Northwest FFA officers talk agriculture
Northwest Students Brandon Salpas and Katie Husman finish pumping gas for a HyVee customer Thursday. The school's FFA chapter was pumping gas for patrons while also talking to them about ethanol. (Independent/Scott Kingsley)
By Robert Pore, The Grand Island Independent
Last week, FFA students at Northwest High School celebrated National FFA Week with a variety of events to promote the organization among Northwest students.
While agricultural education is a key part of FFA, it also works with students to develop their leadership capabilities and explore future career opportunities.
The Grand Island Independent sat down with the Northwest High School FFA Chapter officers to discuss FFA and what the program and agriculture mean to young people.
Chapter officers are: Miranda Baxter, 12th grade, president; Jeff Hostler, 11th grade, vice president; Anthony Casto, 11th grade, secretary; Kendall Hostler, 11th grade, treasurer; Sarah Stoltenberg, 12th grade, reporter; and Katie Ostermeier, 10th grade, sentinel.
Q: What is the best thing about being in FFA?
Anthony: "You get to meet a lot of people and you learn a lot of leadership skills."
Miranda: "We get a lot of leadership experience and get the opportunity to work hands-on with our Supervised Agricultural Experience Programs outside the classroom that give us an introduction to a career."
Sarah: "Not only do we get to met new people and have the opportunity to compete and have fun, but we also get the opportunity to travel."
Kendall: "You learn about yourself and your leadership skills and competing in all of the different events."
Jeff: "You learn to improve your leadership abilities and skills. You learn about new technological advances in the ag world and a lot about agriculture itself and what it is for."
Katie: "It improves your communication skills, such as public speaking skills, along with leadership skills."
Q: With about 90 percent of Northwest's student population being urban kids, do you feel your fellow students have a good idea of how their food gets to the table?
Kendall: "I don't think many students have a good idea of what we do here in vocational agriculture or understand what we do outside of school (the FFA leaders are all directly or indirectly involved with a working farm, feedlot or agribusiness). If we didn't grow the corn here, we wouldn't have the feedlots and you wouldn't have meat to put on your table."
Q: What is the best way to educate young people about agriculture and address a lot of the misinformation that's out there concerning the agricultural industry?
Miranda: "The best place to start combating this is in the classroom, but at the same time I don't think agriculture should be a required class because if kids are forced to do it, they aren't necessarily going to get the most in-depth information and it will just be the basics. If they don't want to be there, they probably won't absorb the information."
Jeff: "I think agriculture should be a mandatory class for students, then at least they will have the knowledge what it is about."
Q: FFA is more than just production agriculture and livestock agriculture. FFA students learn about hundreds of career opportunities involving the agricultural industry. Is that message out there about those career paths the agricultural industry provides young people? What are your future career plans?
Kendall: "Almost everyone thinks you have to live on a farm to be in FFA. FFA isn't Future Farmers of America anymore. It just an organization called FFA."
Anthony: "I'm interested in mechanics, either diesel mechanics or auto. FFA has helped me a lot. Right now, I'm rebuilding a truck."
Miranda: "I'm going to be a lawyer. FFA has really helped me because it has furthered my public speaking skills and my leadership skills."
Sarah: "I'm not quite sure right now, but something involving agriculture or the environment."
Kendall: "I'm interested in being an animal nutritionist."
Jeff: "I want to work with the family farm. But it can be discouraging for young people to get into production agriculture. You don't know what's going to happen in the future. It seems that all the smaller farmers are getting bought out by the bigger farmers."
Katie: "I would like to be a veterinarian working with large animals."
Q: Where do you think the agricultural industry is going to go in the future?
Miranda: "I think with the economy the way it is right now, that is why a lot of these farmers are getting bigger. There's fewer of them because the places that can really afford to be able to have bigger production survive and the smaller ones are shutting down. The ag business is scary right now. But once the economy kind of balances out again, it is going to go back to being kind of a family thing, which is a really good place for agriculture to be."
Kendall: "Once the economy improves, I think the smaller farmers are going to come back and specialize in what they want. I think there will be more of them. It will be better in the future."
Q: What has agriculture meant to you personally?
Anthony: "It has helped me learn a lot. It has helped me learn about responsibility and what it is like to be on a farm."
Miranda: "I have grown up with agriculture and it has always meant a lot to me. Taking care of things and responsibility really teaches you a lot, especially at a young age."
Sarah: "I feel that agriculture is the basis of life. A lot of us have grown up with agriculture and it has been a part of our childhood. It is who we are now and who we will be later. It will always impact our lives. It is definitely who we are."
Q: What would you tell your fellow students about agriculture?
Kendall: I think they should be involved because it is where they get their food from. Looking at all the small farms in Nebraska, they should know that if they were not there, where would their food come from? If my family wasn't here, you would probably not have some of the meat you have. If we weren't here, where would you be?
Jeff: "Agriculture is the backbone of America. They take most stuff for granted about what we do. But it takes a lot of hard work and patience."
Katie: "I have grown up among animals all my life. I like taking care of them and the responsibility it teaches you. If you don't know where your food comes from, then what are you really?"
Miranda: The health care debate is linked to the food we eat. We have a big problem with childhood obesity in America and a lot of it has to do with the food we eat, but not necessarily with the food that we produce. It's about how relaxed Americans have been about what food they eat and we need to be more aware of it. But we can still get our food from the beef and the red meats people seem so concerned about. You just have to do it carefully and in moderation."
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