The program has been great for agriculture and rural communities in South Dakota. Class members say the leadership experience is well worth the time.

Agriculture in South Dakota is affected by changing consumer preferences, environmental regulations, national agriculture and monetary policies and international markets. To ensure that the state's rural and agricultural community can keep pace with the rate of change, informed, decisive, communicative spokespersons are needed to represent the industry and communities, keeping the public factually informed as policies are formed and decisions are made.

We intend on competing with the values of a world-class university.

I've learned more about leadership from these officers than I have in any class.

We really read these (application) files carefully. I think there is more leadership in this class, and we're proud of that.

Our whole upper class does a good job of knowing what's expected of them. There's good leadership in that group. They understand how things are supposed to be run, and I think they understand just how good we could be.