Posts filed under ‘NYFEA info’
A note from our Ag Communications Award Winner :)
Thanks to Jami Willard for sharing her experience at last year’s Agriculture’s Promise event:
I will admit that last year’s Agriculture’s Promise program was a little intense for me. One reason was because there were so many interesting people to meet, and so much fascinating information to take in. It was also my second time visiting our nation’s capital, and the first time I went there with a real goal besides seeing Mr. Lincoln and the National Monument. I knew there were issues in our agriculture system and policy, but never before in my life had a congressional aid ask me what I thought about them. It was a little overwhelming in a great way. I found out first hand that that I have a voice, and realized how big of a difference I could make. The experience last year changed my life. Changing the world has always been a goal of mine, and now I know of a way that I can help make this world a better place.
Since Agriculture’s Promise 2010 I have been on a quest for knowledge. Talking to producers and going to meetings are a favorite of mine, but this year I have had a goal in mind. In April when I arrive in DC I will have specific issues in mind to address that I know will directly affect the future of my industry. When sitting across from a congressional aid this year to talk about issues I know that back home my best friend will have a better chance of starting the successful farm of her dreams because I took the time to be an Agvocate.
- Jami Willard
Agriculture’s Promise will be held April 10th – 12th at the Gaylord National in Washington D.C. For more information on Agriculture’s Promise, visit http://agriculturespromise.com.
Key Issues in Agriculture
Check out our second learning module from our 2010 Ag’s Promise event! This discussion identifies key issues effecting young and beginning farmers and producers and provide some strategies for talking about these issues with national leaders and members of Congress.
To learn more about our 2011 Ag’s Promise event coming up April 10th through 12th in Washington D.C., check out the registration form & brochure!
Ag Issues for the Next Generation
Did you know the NYFEA is now using Vimeo? We’ll use the account to feature educational videos pertaining to agriculture and the next generation of Ag Leaders.
Here’s a video from the 2010 National Young Farmer Educational Association “Agriculture’s Promise” event in Washington, D.C.
This panel discussion sets the foundation of the event’s purpose – to identify key issues effecting young and beginning farmers and producers and provide some strategies for talking about these issues with national leaders and members of Congress.
PA Farmers at the National Institute
Just ran across this article on CF Grower abut the National Institute:
Pennsylvania Young Farmers attend National Institute in California
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| Pennsylvanians who participated in the National Young Farmer Educational Association Institute in Monterey, CA, gather following the final evening program. |
Thirty-four Pennsylvanians participated in the 44th annual National Young Farmers Educational Association Institute (NYFEA), held in Monterey, CA, last month, joining [other] young farmers from around the country in educational seminars and tours of the fertile Central Coast valleys.
Pennsylvania Young Farmers Association (PYFA) sponsored three young people to the conference to participate in the Ag Communications program and the Young Agricultural Leaders Event (YALE). They included Caleb Wright, Alexandria, a freshman at Penn State and member of the PYFA Board; Benjamin Shughart, Carlisle, State FFA chaplain and member of the PYFA Board; and Hannah Wentworth, Quarryville, a sophomore at Penn State and winner of the stipend offered by PYFA.
It is the fourth year that PYFA sponsored youth to participate in the national program to forge closer relationships with the next generation of agricultural producers. They interacted with Young Farmers and other young people from around the country.
Monica Abbott, Olympic Silver Medalist in softball for USA, brought an inspirational message of determination and hard work to those attending the YALE program.
Shirley Faye Herr, Lebanon and Cedar Crest Young Farmer member, participated in the Spokesperson for Agriculture segment of the program, presenting her speech along with other state winners. She had been named the Pennsylvania Young Farmers Spokesperson for Agriculture at the 2010 winter conference.
In the NYFEA delegate meeting, Carol Corman, Centre Hall, was elected president-elect, after serving two years as NYFEA secretary. Delegates representing Pennsylvania included Denise Sanner, Kutztown, current PYFA president, and Keith Leydig, Berlin, PYFA past president.
Tours included visits to operations in the “salad bowl” of California, including an artichoke operation, onion processing, a Dole facility that processed pre-packaged salads and a nursery that prepared seedlings for the area’s vegetable growers.
Attendees also visited the Monterey County Agricultural & Rural Life Museum, the Soledad Mission and Yesterday’s Barn, learning about the history of California.
Agricultural tours included:
• Ocean Mist Farms, which grows artichokes, a vegetable first brought to the Central Coast by Italian immigrants. Ocean Mist, located in the Salinas Valley, is the largest artichoke grower in North America.
• DOLE Salad Plant, which washes, cuts, packages and ships pre-packaged salads in refrigerated containers all within hours of being harvested.
• King City Nursery, where a wide variety of vegetable plants are grown for early planting.
• Gills Onions, a fresh-cut processor of onions for the food service industry which has a highly acclaimed advanced energy recovery system that allows them to convert most of their onion processing waste into renewable energy.
The 2011 NYFEA Institute will be held in Kansas City, MO, December 7-11. The Pennsylvania Young Farmers Winter conference will be held in DuBois, Feb. 8-11. For more information go to http://www.payoungfarmers.com
Kathryn Shallenberger on Ag’s Promise
With Agriculture’s Promise right around the corner, we want to make sure you have plenty of reasons to mark your calendar for the event! It really is a great opportunity to put a face on agriculture in front of our country’s decision makers, but don’t take our word for it! Here’s Kathryn Shallenberger’s take on her 2010 Agriculture’s Promise experience:
I absolutely love visiting Washington, D.C. It is a place rich with memories of our country’s history, the place where our founding fathers made decisions that helped to shape our past. It is also a place where today’s leaders are shaping our future. Each and every day our nation’s leading lawmakers are making decisions that have a direct impact the future of our country. They are paving the path, choosing the direction we will go. So naturally, any time I get a chance to have a hand in that process I take it. That is why I chose to attend the National Young Farmer Education Association’s Agriculture’s Promise forum in Washington, D.C. last April.
As someone who was relatively new to the NYFEA organization I was not sure what to expect. I had been to D.C. three other times for various conferences and trip, but never for a forum such as this. If fact, I am not even sure I could say I knew what a forum was! However, that did not last long. From the moment the forum began I knew that I was a part of something special. Agriculturalists had come from all over the country in order to give their industry a voice, to give their industry the opportunity to help pave the path to the future.
But why was this so special, so important? It is simple, for many years agriculturalists have taken for granted to relationships they have with the people they serve, their consumers. This has caused a huge disconnect, making many consumers unaware of the ins and outs of the industry. So, as congressmen and women are faced with decision that directly affect the agriculture industry, they are not always properly informed. That is why agriculturalists like myself chose to attend Agriculture’s Promise: a Forum for the Next Generation. This forum was our opportunity reconnects with the consumers out in Washington. It was our opportunity to tell our own agriculture story.
If you are reading this blog, and wondering what it has to do with you, wonder no longer. The 2011 Agriculture’s Promise Forum is coming up faster than you realize, and if you do not begin to seriously consider this opportunity to put a name and a face to the agriculture industry it may pass you by. If you believe in the words that E.M. Tiffany wrote many years ago, “I believe in the future of agriculture,” then you must take the opportunity help carve a path to that future.
- Kathryn
To attend Agriculture’s Promise, check out the registration form below & send it in by March 10th, 2011. We look forward to seeing you!
Farm (Event) Photo Friday!
Our farm photos are little different this week.. Instead of showing off photos from an actual farm, we have photos from a farming event! Specifically, these photos are from the Farm Credit Council Conference at the Marriott Marquis in San Francisco. NYFEA had a booth at the trade show held in conjunction with the event.
Here’s Gordon Stone working the booth:
Gordon and John Hays, VP Policy Analysis and Development for the Farm Credit Council, announcing the winner of a pair of binoculars at the ice cream social:
Gordon with Agriculture’s Promise trip winner Steve Johnson onf Windom, MN. Steve will have the opportunity to selecta young farmer/producer couple to send to Agriculture’s Promise in DC, April 10th – 12th.
A note on Agriculture’s Promise
As we gear up for Agriculture’s Promise 2011 – April 10th through 12th at the Gaylord National in Washington, DC, we want to share former Agriculture’s Promise experiences with you from those who have attended in previous years. Hopefully this will give you a better idea about the event, our organization, and the idea behind Agriculture’s Promise.
Excerpt written by Denise Sanner, President of PYFA and taken from their Fall 2010 Newsletter:
Have you ever wanted to gain knowledge about national issues? Wanted the opportunity to be part of a “nationwide consensus” to let the voices of our next generation of ag leaders be heard by our elected officials and USDA? Visit Capitol Hill and talk one on one with your congressman(woman)? If so, you may be very interested in attending [this] year’s Agriculture’s Promise that is hosted by the National Young Farmers Educational Association (NYFEA).
I had the opportunity to attend Ag’s Promise in April. Keith Leydig, Tim Rhoads, and I headed to Washington, DC to attend the delegates’ meeting on Sunday afternoon. We spent a great majority of our time going over NYFEA’s constitution and bylaws, which hopefully will be approved in December in Monterey, CA. I then hung around our nation’s capital to see what Agriculture’s Promise was about and how our state organization could become involved in future years. I was very impressed with the format of the conference and how this offered young agriculturists the opportunity to make their voices heard and go to the Capitol with one voice. We started Monday morning by listening to executives from USDA and agricultural liaisons to the Senate and House that influence the future of agriculture policy. They shared their insights about how policymaking works and how to become a part of that procedure. The participants then brainstormed to compile a list of their priorities (found here). Tuesday the participants took their newly defined message to Capitol Hill and shared it with their elected officials to illustrate the importance of the next generation and what their concerns are for the success of their future operations.
I think this program is a valuable tool for the younger members of our organization; those members who are just out of college or just starting out with their own operations. It will give those members a chance to see how policy works and to add their own concerns and issues to the voice of our next generation.
Check out Leaders in Agriculture Magazine!
Here’s the latest Leaders in Agriculture Magazine for your enjoyment!
Be sure to click “View on Slideshare” and then “Full” in the bottom right corner to view a larger version.
