Carry the lessons from FFA forward

During National FFA Week, many of us recall those years we spent wearing blue and gold jackets with the FFA logo emblazoned on the back. I still have mine, a hand-me-down from my sister, hanging in a closet somewhere in this old house.

Throughout my career in farm broadcasting, I have had the opportunity to interact with young men and women who are part of this great ag youth organization.

I have been around long enough that I have seen many go on to become leaders in ag business and commodity groups.

I have seen others become educators, farmers and veterinarians. I have seen others become lawmakers at both the state and federal level.

And I have seen some whose life’s work takes them far away from their roots in agriculture. My dear friend Jimmy Brown was one of those who left it all behind — or did he, really?

Jimmy’s award-winning FFA speech was titled “A farm background is nothing to be wasted.”

Learning by doing is the best method. Those early experiences working on the farm not only taught us, but they gave us confidence for the next task at hand.

Being independent and self-sufficient and driven to finish that which you have begun are qualities instilled in most kids on the farm.

Those same qualities make those with a farm upbringing well-qualified candidates for many jobs those without the strong work ethic instilled in farm youth could not, or would not, handle.

Many of the young people reared on farms in the rural Midwest will find career paths that lead them to cities on the east or west coast, or to jobs that at first glance have little to do with the agricultural roots from which they came.

Those young people might not be the future of agriculture in the sense that they will be on the farm growing food or working directly in the field of agriculture.

However, those young people carry with them the memories, the history, the truth and the story of agriculture.

Yes, it is sad to see the exodus of youth from our rural communities each year as high school graduates head off to pursue a higher degree of education, but think of those young people as messengers with no misconceptions about where and how our food is grown.

During this National FFA Week, I am celebrating the next generation of farmers, yes, but also the future engineers, biologists, chemists, veterinarians, doctors, lawyers, journalists, accountants, loan officers, plumbers, butchers, chefs, electricians and others who are currently members of a local FFA chapter.

Like my friend Jimmy Brown said 40-some years ago, “A farm background is nothing to be wasted.”

I believe everything he learned growing up on a farm and being involved in 4-H and FFA helped set the stage for him to find his path to become a seasoned government relations, advocacy and philanthropy expert based first in Washington, D.C., and now in the San Francisco Bay area.