In Good Hands

The future of agriculture is in good hands.  I make this statement on the heels of judging a regional FFA contest this week.  The students who stood before me were poised, enthusiastic, and understood many of the tough issues facing farmers today.  It is not always an easy task for those of us involved in agriculture to talk about topics like rBST and milk labeling, cloning, animal welfare and disease, organic farming, the honey bee crisis, “green” architecture, biotechnology, and high tunnel alternatives for fruit and vegetable production.

I enjoyed the three hours of listening and learning.  It was encouraging to hear most of the students share real life applications of their research topics on their family farms or where they work.  Some of the high school students have already assumed “grown up” responsibilities on their farm operations, from handling irrigation of vegetables to milking cows.  They are getting the on-the-job training needed to step out of high school and into an agricultural career.  These lessons beyond the classroom are invaluable for teaching our future farmers about the facets of agriculture that aren’t always translated in text books.

Thinking back to my own family farm experience, I applied many of the lessons I learned growing up on a commercial beef operation to my life in agriculture today which includes raising Hereford cattle.  My high school classes, especially trigonometry, helped Mike and me build our VPI-style cattle barn with just the right height and angles.  My collegiate training at Penn State helped us determine how much pressure we needed to push water up our steep Berks County farm hills to water troughs in our pastures.  Classes in animal husbandry, agronomy, and soil science laid the foundation for my future career as a farmer, soil conservationist, and agricultural coordinator.  Learning continues on a daily basis as I read about new technology in trade publications, attend seminars, and network with other farmers.

Secretary Dennis Wolff commented at the Pennsylvania Cattlemen’s Association annual meeting that farmers are in the minority, representing about one percent of the population.  While that is not a news flash, I was surprised that our numbers had shrunk by another percentage point.  The Secretary was not optimistic that these numbers would increase in the future, but instead would continue to drop.  He pointed to the trends during the past century that found agriculture getting bigger, more efficient thanks to technology, more mechanized, and with fewer farmers in the picture.  He emphasized the need to communicate with the 99% of the population that doesn’t earn a living off the land and tell them the story about farming in the 21st Century.

Our young spokespersons in organizations like FFA, 4-H, Young Farmers, Farm Bureau and the Grange have a big task ahead of them.  The agricultural realities they will have to deal with are far different than the ones my Dad or I faced when we got started farming.  But, these young people are better prepared than ever before to assume the challenges that lie ahead for the farming community, if this week’s contest is any gauge of their abilities.  They know the topics, understand the issues, and have learned where to get the right answers.  They are able to apply what they know and to communicate this information in a way that people can understand.

In the pages of Lancaster Farming each week, I read about many of our youth being recognized at the national level for their accomplishments.  They are representing Pennsylvania agriculture proudly, and bringing attention to our state’s leading industry.  Their talents and time keep the Keystone State in the spotlight across our country, letting everyone know that agriculture is still a viable part of Pennsylvania and the Northeast.  Their success stories need to be acknowledged by all of us in agriculture.  Our young people need to be encouraged to continue in the agricultural field by those of us whose path they will follow someday.  They will be the few who help feed the world and farm the land in the future.  Give them a hand.

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