Texas
Heitschmidt represents Texas in national discussion meet – Texas Farm Bureau
By Julie Tomascik
Editor
College students from across the nation competed in American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) Collegiate Discussion Meet in early March.
Ryan Heitschmidt, a senior at West Texas A&M University (WTAMU), represented Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) in the contest.
During the national competition, Heitschmidt discussed sustainability in agriculture and Farm Bureau’s role in advocating for agriculture in state governments and Washington, D.C.
“It’s a good feeling to be the one to represent Texas at the national level,” he said. “We had good discussion in the contest, and I was able to meet other college students from across the nation.”
Heitschmidt has always been passionate about agriculture. It led him to WTAMU where he is studying animal science.
While at WTAMU, he has been active in the WTAMU Collegiate Farm Bureau chapter, serving terms as vice president and ag advocacy chair. He is also a member of the WTAMU Meat Judging and Meat Science Quiz Bowl teams.
After college, he plans to pursue a career in meat science and later establish a local meat packing and processing business.
“Agriculture is something I grew up around, and it’s something that will always be part of my life and all of our lives,” he said. “It’s fulfilling to know that I play a role in that 2% of people who farm and ranch and contribute to agriculture’s supply chain.”
The national Discussion Meet was part of AFBF’s YF&R Leadership Conference in Omaha, Neb. The conference, which was held March 8-11, included breakout sessions focusing on grassroots advocacy, navigating generational differences, farm succession planning, work life balance and agricultural literacy efforts, among others.
Heitschmidt was named the winner of TFB’s Collegiate Discussion Meet in 2023, qualifying him for the national competition.
Learn more about TFB opportunities for collegiate students at texasfarmbureau.org/collegiate.
The Texas Longhorns entered the 2025 season with more expectations than any team has had to deal with in recent memory.
Many among the media were ready to crown the team and quarterback Arch Manning before they even played one game. Of course, those unrealistic expectations were never met, even though the team finished with a 10-3 record and a Citrus Bowl win over the Michigan Wolverines.
2026 is heading in the same direction for the Longhorns. Many believe head coach Steve Sarkisian has the most talented team in the country. But in order to fix the issues from this past season, the Longhorns needed to fix one issue that has cost them in the past.
Changing The Narrative
One of the biggest issues the Longhorns had last season was the play of the offensive line. It was apparent in the first game of the season against the Ohio State Buckeyes that Manning didn’t have the pocket time needed to make big plays.
This offseason, Coach Sarkisian went out and found two massive transfer portal additions that should completely change the narrative on this offensive line.
It starts with potential starting right tackle Melvin Siani. Siani has spent time with the Temple Owls and last season with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
The Longhorns are set at left tackle with Trevor Goosby, who could play himself into being a top 10 pick in the 2027 NFL Draft. If the team can get competent play from Siani, the offense will be able to open up the playbook, and the world may finally see Manning at his college peak.
The Longhorns also went out and found a potential fix at left guard for the 2026 season. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers transfer Laurence Seymore could be another strong patch for the holes in the offensive line.
After spending the first two seasons of his college career with the Miami Hurricanes, Seymore made stops with the Akron Zips and the Hilltoppers.
Of course, the one concern with Seymore is wondering if he can compete at the SEC level coming from the C-USA.
This season for the Longhorns starts and stops with the play of Manning. Coach Sarkisian and the rest of this coaching staff understood that protecting their quarterback was the most important goal when building the 2026 roster.
The Longhorns are going to be leaning on veteran talent to protect their quarterback, and it may very well be the best decision they made this offseason.
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