Alabama Agriculture: Sustaining Future Generations

In the next 5o years farmers around the world will have to feed more people than we did the previous 100 years. Farmers are among the best stewards of the land as they realize they must protect the land in order for it to remain productive. Without someone to farm the land then we have no crops to export, which leads to no profit. As you can see the people who take time to plant and take care of the crops that make up Arkansas economy are just as important as the crops themselves.

The National FFA Organization, formerly known as Future Farmers of America (FFA) is an organization that is allows for all students in high school to be a part of an organization that strives to do better in the agriculture industry. Students of all races and ethnicities are a part of the FFA and that was made possible do to the changes that our country has made in an effort to end segregation and other ethnic issues.

Finally you come to the last paragraph "I believe that American agriculture can and will hold true to the best traditions of our national life and that I can exert an influence in my home and community which will stand solid for my part in that inspiring task." One thing that I believe strongly in is agriculture. Because of the kind of individuals involved in this great industry, its

Education is a powerful tool and, when used correctly, it has the power to teach someone a new skill, transform his or her perspective, and encourage personal growth and development. Throughout this country, numerous agricultural education programs help students to learn more about and deepen their understanding of one of this nation’s most valuable industries: the agricultural industry. Most importantly, these programs play a major role in helping to combat the lack of

Times have changed, and so has the family, the community and our environment. And these changes have impacted our lives and earth immeasurably. This is where the factor greed comes in to play, the need for more. This need for more called for extensive measures, measures like fertilizers, pesticides and equipment to work the ground and harvest the crops became necessity. Agriculture became a booming business that did not and still does not promote the well-being of the employee nor the individual let alone the family unit and community. Since 1950 an average farm size has doubled, but the number of laborers decreased substantially and the number of small local farmers has been cut in half. Farmers have been forced to become more efficient and there 's been a reliance on greater chemicals and technology, which has become very extensive and expensive. Sadly, what has been short term expansion has become a long-term threat (Trautmann, 2012). This greed driven increase has led to subtle damaging ramifications that most people are ignorant to. Their needs are being met as quality is being forsaken. Our environment is being squandered. Selfishness abounds.

Future Farmers of America (FFA) is the nation’s largest youth organization that steers students in a direction of career success and premier leadership. Like most organizations FFA is very conscious of making career success and leadership their goals for students, so why might FFA be the best option for the students? This organization highly impacts students because it is an inter-curricular activity instead of an extracurricular activity. FFA is an organization well known across the country. This organization is perceived to just be available for farm and ranch kids, but this is open to help all students. It is a long-standing tradition of honesty, strong worth ethic and fairness. It provides numerous

The agriculture industry is not only the largest industry within our state, but also within our nation. However, in recent years it has also been one of the most heavily criticized. This has led to a ‘brain drain’ in rural America as more people decide to leave our industry and their family farms.

In the time period between 1865 and 1900 technology,government policy,and economic conditions really changed American agriculture. The technology made farming more efficient,and more profitable. Government policies both helped and hindered farmers with helping them transport their products,but they also “stole” from the farmers to help make the government more money. The economic conditions helped farmers with selling more products,and helping cities grow;along with starving families almost to death. All of these coming together really changed American agriculture.

Agriculture is a 71-billion-dollar industry in the state of Georgia alone as of 2014, according to the Georgia Farm Bureau’s website (web. August 16,2016). According to the USDA’s website, the United States agriculture industry contributed around 835-billion-dollars to the economy (web. August 16,2016). People may ask what is agriculture? According to dictionary.com agriculture is “the science, art, or occupation concerned with cultivating land, raising crops, and feeding, breeding, and raising livestock; farming” (dictionary.com). Georgia is one of the most diversified states when it comes to how many different commodities that are grown though out the state. With this being said there are a few crops that can be grown in Georgia during the

Growing up on a small family wheat farm in southwestern Oklahoma, I have experienced the harsh conditions of farming firsthand. The job that used to employ the largest amount of people in the United States has lost the support and the respect of the American people. The Jeffersonian Ideal of a nation of farmers has been tossed aside to be replaced by a nation of white-collar workers. The family farm is under attack and it is not being protected. The family farm can help the United States economically by creating jobs in a time when many cannot afford the food in the stores. The family farm can help prevent the degradation of the environment by creating a mutually beneficial relationship between the people producing the food and nature. The family farm is the answer to many of the tough questions facing the United States today, but these small farms are going bankrupt all too often. The government’s policy on farming is the largest factor in what farms succeed, but simple economics, large corporations, and society as a whole influence the decline in family farms; small changes in these areas will help break up the huge corporate farms, keeping the small family farm afloat.

Before the European settlement of Iowa, the state was a land covered in tall prairie grasses, wetlands, and small forests. The Native Americans thrived on these lands by using pockets of the fertile soil for agriculture and hunting the abundance of wildlife that roamed these plains. By the late 1800s however, the prairie had become farmland and the Europeans had begun their new lives along Iowa’s waterways and railroads. Within a century Iowa’s landscape had changed rapidly due to human activity.

The agriculture field is one of the biggest employers, employing over 155 million people in the United States. What do you think about when you hear the word “agriculture?” Many people would say farming, but this is not the most common occupation in this field. Farmers make up a fraction of the agricultural jobs at 900,000, but over 2.1 million people own, rent, and claim farming as a primary source of income. The average farm size has dropped from 460 acres in 1990 to 418 acres in 2007, while the average age of this occupation rose to 57, making this one of the older workforces in the United States.

There comes a point in time when the best choice isit to just grow up. After all, eEverything grows. People grow, and plants grow, and our knowledge grows. Tas well as theories grow and the population grow and the dependency we have on the world we surly embody grows. Hello, I am my name is Shylee Baertich, a proud FFA member whose homeuse is surrounded by nothing, but acres and acres of crops. Which indeed, grow. So, I’ve always been surrounded by everything-agriculture and yet, I have noticed when going to the city, skylscrapers growning out of the urban concrete fields. also growing with something new: the trendy greenhouses growing vertically skyscrapers. I’ve also heard the bickering about our limited amount and potential use of the land, and as an FFA members we have been taught that by weyou already know that by 2050 agriculturist will need to produce enough food to feed 9.7 billion people (www.fao.org). Our population is only ever growing and it seems like our land acres continues tois shrinking. However, as agriculturist yearn for innovative tactics they’ve have realized that the best choice it to just grow up.So perhaps our best choice as innovative agriculturalist is to just grow up.

Shortly after getting involved with local Farmers Guild, which now has 11 chapters, I realized the dire importance to spread the word and message about the future of young farmers. The typical American farmer is over 57, white and male; he often has no succession plan. One of my clients, Larry Peter the Owner of Petaluma Creamery worked in agriculture as a young man picking prunes and raspberries. He washed milk bottles; bottle fed calves, and drove a forklift for ten years while he learned the business. He saved his money, bought run-down houses, fixed them up, and rented them out. In doing research, I found farmers and ranchers earned a median annual income of nearly $61,000 in 2010, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (1) Seven of the 10 best-paying U.S. cities for farmers were in California, ranking at $80,0000-$87,000 annually. According to a recent report commissioned by the USDA, there will be 20,000 fewer university graduates in the fields of agriculture and the environment than will be needed in just the next five years. In order to feed 9 billion people by 2050, we will need a diverse population of agriculture researchers who can think outside the hectare and leverage the experience of nontraditional learners — including veterans, refugees from rural backgrounds, migrant farmworkers and female farm owners. (5)

Have you ever thought or asked yourself, do you want to eat? Do you want to grow your own food while working another job? The faction, Dukes, as the future farmers of society do these things in our faction. After the Ebola virus hit the air our faction (Dukes) decided to be the caring and the giving ones. The responsibilities for the society, are to take care of animals, grow food and herbs, and hunt for food. In doing so, by us fulfilling our responsibilities, people will have food and good health. However, we are going to need some people to join our faction, because a small group of people cannot take care of all these responsibilities on their own forever. Trey, Harris, Tyler, and I created a campaign