Growing Ag's Future
The 85th National FFA Convention and Expo ended Saturday and, contrary to popular misconception, the future of agriculture is not dead. In fact, in looking at the faces of the nearly 55 thousand young people that gathered at the convention to learn about careers in the ag industry, the future of agriculture looks quite bright indeed. These young men and women are passionate about agriculture, and they understand that as times change so too must the way farmers and ranchers run their operations. They’re also very much aware of the uphill battle faced by many in the agricultural community as animal rights activists attack production agriculture operations on a daily basis. While extremist groups make it their mission to slander agriculture in the viral video arena, groups such as the FFA are equally passionate about getting the real story of agriculture out to the general public. And thank goodness for that. The theme of this year’s convention was “Grow”, which was appropriate on so many levels. The more than 500 thousand members of the FFA understand that they themselves have to “grow” in order to be successful in growing the nation’s and the worlds’s food supply.