Madelyn Iwasyk is spreading the word about the importance of agriculture in Stanislaus County.

The 2023 Pitman High graduate is the reigning California Miss Agriculture Queen for Stanislaus County. She has a long background in agriculture. Iwasyk is a four-year FFA and 4-H alumna and showed livestock throughout high school. She is currently studying animal science, political science and communications at Modesto Junior College. Iwasyk has plans to finish her studies at Fresno State and earn a bachelor's degree in both animal science and political science, and specialize in livestock management.

Amidst her studies, Iwasyk is doing what she can to educate the next generation about agriculture.

“I picked a goal at the beginning of the year, and that's just to continue the education of agriculture with our youth, because that's the next step into our agriculture industry. (I’m) just trying to connect with that younger generation and educate them about our culture, where our food comes from, about how the things in our homes — from our cabinets, to the clothes on our backs — how everything's related back to agriculture. That's the root of our culture,” she said.

She educates young people at local vendor events, posts educational information on social media and gives back to the community by volunteering. At a recent event, Iwasyk taught children about pollination through an art activity. 

“I let them do a flower pot painting. They were able to pick a color of a flower pot and then they took straw and pushed it in paint, and they're able to make little art pieces. And while they were there, I was telling them about pollination and the importance of bees and how we can support bees. They were able to plant some bee friendly flowers into these little disposable pots, and then they were able to take them home and plant them. And that way they can have the bees be an active part in our society,” she said.

Iwasyk is hoping to continue her agriculture outreach by competing in the national Miss Agriculture USA contest, a nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating and promoting the wonders of agriculture and building confidence, promoting self-esteem, developing public speaking skills, shaping strong leaders, networking and forming lasting friendships through its pageants.