Focusing on the Future – Ag Youth Today

By Tyne Morgan

A younger Tyne waiting to be interviewed at the National FFA Convention where she was a National Ag Communications Proficiency Award finalist.

The National FFA Organization is one that is dear to me. In fact, if you took a look at my resume, each item on there could be linked back to FFA. Whether it’s the skills I gained through being involved in FFA or just the experience itself, FFA taught me a great deal and helped shape me into the ag communicator I am today.

Originally, I joined FFA to gain brownie points with my father. He’s an ag teacher, and I knew he wanted nothing more than for his children to get involved in FFA. But FFA became much more than just an organization to me in a very short time.

I was blessed with the gift of gab from the very beginning, but not until I was a freshman in high school did I decide to put that gift to good use when I decided to participate in FFA public speaking events. My first year I did a speech on the “The Future of Ag.” The morning of the event, it just so happened a radio station was in town doing “Coffee Shop Talk,” where they traveled around their listening area interviewing farmers and, at times, ag youth. I remember being so nervous about being on the radio I couldn’t even sit still. Finally, it was our turn to be interviewed as a chapter officer team. The broadcaster’s first question was on the future of ag, which was right up my alley because I had been preparing for my speech on that same topic. Have you ever been in a situation where you have all this information in you and as soon as someone asks about that topic you explode? Well, that’s exactly what happened to me. In fact, I had so much to say on the topic, I don’t think any of the other FFA officers got a word in (imagine that). My sister was listening to me at home saying: “Is she ever going to shut up?” Well, that day paid off in a big way because that’s how I landed my first farm broadcasting job at the age of 16.

I can honestly say that speech is what helped me become extremely passionate about agriculture and even more importantly, the future of ag. I’ve always told myself that no matter what, I will try to communicate to others the importance of ag in everything I do. And to this day, I’m still striving for that (including in the harvest updates).

Enough of my rambling… here is this week’s harvest update, which focuses on the future of ag. There are both challenges and opportunities for today’s youth, but I do think the future of ag is bright. Today’s youth are innovative and ready to take on challenges every day. This will definitely come in handy as new technology comes to the marketplace and ag grows even more as we feed a growing population. And with the average age of a farmer today being in the 50s and 60s, youth are needed more than ever before in this industry. It’s an exciting time to be in agriculture – I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.

You can check out Tyne’s Illinois & Iowa  harvest update on Monsanto.com

For more photos of Tyne’s trip, check out  the slideshow on Flickr

 

The National FFA Organization is one that is dear to me. In fact, if you took a look at my resume, each item on there could be linked back to FFA. Whether it’s the skills I gained through being involved in FFA or just the experience itself, FFA taught me a great deal and helped shape me into the ag communicator I am today.

Originally, I joined FFA to gain brownie points with my father. He’s an ag teacher, and I knew he wanted nothing more than for his children to get involved in FFA. But FFA became much more than just an organization to me in a very short time.

I was blessed with the gift of gab from the very beginning, but not until I was a freshman in high school did I decide to put that gift to good use when I decided to participate in FFA public speaking events. My first year I did a speech on the “The Future of Ag.” The morning of the event, it just so happened a radio station was in town doing “Coffee Shop Talk,” where they traveled around their listening area interviewing farmers and, at times, ag youth. I remember being so nervous about being on the radio I couldn’t even sit still. Finally, it was our turn to be interviewed as a chapter officer team. The broadcaster’s first question was on the future of ag, which was right up my alley because I had been preparing for my speech on that same topic. Have you ever been in a situation where you have all this information in you and as soon as someone asks about that topic you explode? Well, that’s exactly what happened to me. In fact, I had so much to say on the topic, I don’t think any of the other FFA officers got a word in (imagine that). My sister was listening to me at home saying: “Is she ever going to shut up?” Well, that day paid off in a big way because that’s how I landed my first farm broadcasting job at the age of 16.

I can honestly say that speech is what helped me become extremely passionate about agriculture and even more importantly, the future of ag. I’ve always told myself that no matter what, I will try to communicate to others the importance of ag in everything I do. And to this day, I’m still striving for that (including in the harvest updates).

Enough of my rambling… here is this week’s harvest update, which focuses on the future of ag. There are both challenges and opportunities for today’s youth, but I do think the future of ag is bright. Today’s youth are innovative and ready to take on challenges every day. This will definitely come in handy as new technology comes to the marketplace and ag grows even more as we feed a growing population. And with the average age of a farmer today being in the 50s and 60s, youth are needed more than ever before in this industry. It’s an exciting time to be in agriculture – I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.