is a vision board created when I was 14
partially out of curiosity and partially
because my mother said it was a good
idea and while the concept of putting a
goal on your wall and then not really
thinking about it seemed unrealistic I
tried it anyway
incidentally on that vision board was
the Ted logo symbolizing my goal of
wanting to speak right here when well I
would love to talk about setting goals
or communications or having your mother
constantly prove herself right I’m here
to address a more pressing issue
agriculture through my many years and
the 4-h program showing an exhibiting
livestock
I gained a deep passion for agriculture
and for youth leadership throughout my
4-h career I was inspired by many youth
advocates for agriculture and what I
found the most inspiring the most
motivating and the most humbling was
that the majority of those who spoke
with such a passion for agriculture who
shared their ideas on how to expand the
industry had yet to celebrate their 25th
birthday
however the generation most adept at
using an iPhone is under constant
scrutiny there’s the perception that
Millennials don’t work as hard as our
parents our grandparents and our and the
generations previous we have to look
past this because we were instilled with
the same values of hard work dedication
and perseverance as the generations
before us even if we portray it a little
bit differently these negative
connotations can lead us to question
whether or not we as Millennials are
ready ready to be the leaders in our
country the pillars in our community and
the generation responsible for providing
enough food for the largest population
our world has ever seen
but I believe that yes we are ready new
generations have a greater understanding
of technology and contrary to popular
belief work ethic but more importantly
than that Millennials are educated
universities are offering more and more
courses and degrees with a focus on
agriculture in engineering marketing
Business Administration agribusiness
research and science my generation
understands that there is more to
agriculture than just a farmer and a
consumer that there are transporters and
marketers and veterinarians and many
other key positions that allow our food
to go from the field to the table in the
past farming was a relatively
self-contained operation but it
certainly won’t be in the future we will
see the network of Canadian agriculture
grow to fit the modern world now more
than ever there are opportunities to get
involved in your food sustainability
because you don’t have to be a farmer to
have an impact on Canadian agriculture
according to the government of Canada’s
2015 Canadian agricultural outlook the
average net worth per farm was expected
to set new records of 2.1 million
dollars in 2015 and the average net
operating income was forecasted to be
roughly 78 thousand dollars which is an
all-time high this is a big
responsibility
to hand down to the next generation so
we as the next generation have to ask
ourselves where do we begin the truth is
it doesn’t begin with us no matter what
the next generation of Millennials can
bring to the table it will be pointless
if the current generation does not have
a strong succession plan in place so the
transition into stewardship will be
uninterrupted
it is here where we find great
opportunity but also face an enormous
amount of pressure I am only 17 years
old a millennial and yet the weight of
the world the responsibility of
providing food security and finding
solutions to our social economic and
environmental issues is tied up with
ribbon and red tape waiting to be
delivered the day I turn 19 this is why
it is so crucial that we as Millennials
engage our peers so that when that
responsibility is handed down to us it
does not land squarely on only the
leaders of our generation but is divided
amongst all of us this is an incredibly
powerful concept because agriculture is
not a solitary business venture but
instead the efforts of like-minded
individuals working together to steward
the land sustainably and efficiently
this leads us to make investments that
focus on the future while we learn from
the past we shouldn’t expect the
different generations to have the same
impact because we are facing different
problems my generation will be
attempting to feed and expanding global
population while meeting strict new
emission requirements we will have to
produce more food on fewer acres while
minimizing our environmental footprint
of the roughly eight billion dollars
spent annually by federal and provincial
governments on agriculture just 1.9
percent goes into research programs and
only 1.7 percent is spent on Trade
Development in order to expand and grow
our industry we need to fund these
research programs and focus on economies
of scale Dean of the Colorado State
University’s College of Agricultural
Sciences a Jamin on students that not
only has the technology used in
agricultural production involves
significantly in the last 20 10 or even
5 years but that the next generation of
agricultural producers have come to rely
on innovation and
entrepreneurship to advance our food and
fiber production systems if we are going
to tackle these pressing issues in food
safety food sustainability and food
security
then we must both train and learn from
the next generation of producers who
will position agriculture to feed of
global population topping nine billion
people this is an incredible challenge
that my generation and future
generations will have to face but we
will be prepared with advancements in
technology innovation and the knowledge
not only from our schools but from the
farmers before us so yes we are ready to
be the leaders of our country we are
ready to be the pillars in our community
and with our shared vision for what
agriculture and kennix Canada can be we are ready for the future thank you
Be First to Comment