Our Agricultural Future: Students and Farmers

One aspect of my job I love is that I am always meeting new people.  Bayer is so big and there are new people to meet all the time.  There are also many people that come and visit us which provides another opportunity to network with new people and groups.   This week I met people from two different organisations that are really driving results in area of agriculture.

Agriculture Future of America

The first group I met with this week as they were visiting Bayer were some student leaders for the Agriculture Future of America or AFA.  The Agriculture Future of America was "created by the late R. Crosby Kemper, Jr. and other Kansas City business leaders to provide personal and professional development experiences for college students and young professionals in food and agriculture.  Today AFA focuses on personal assessment, communication, change management and lifelong learning to develop professionalism, entrepreneurial and intellectualism."

I personally was able to sit down with three of these students and two other Bayer colleagues to talk about our careers and potentially instill some insight for these future leaders.   In hindsight I think it may have been been them giving me some perspective and insight.   As I get older it is sometimes easy for me to forget what it was like being a college student and trying to find my way.   "What do I want to be when I grow up" is a heavy burden for many students and one that we all can help them with.   These young students reminded me how important it is for those of us in agriculture to share our experiences and share our love and passion for this career path.  It is easy to forget that that year after year students graduate and have to decide what they are going to do.  Talking to these students I know firsthand that having someone share their experiences goes a long way into helping them make their own choices.    I also realize that by not being proactive there is a lot of talent that may never even know how much they would enjoy a career in agriculture.

If you are like me you probably remember the FFA or Future Farmer's of America.  The AFA is another resource for our youth that should not be overlooked.   The AFA networks with academia and companies to provide scholarships, training, and internships for those that are interested and apply for these opportunities.  A clear message you will hear from those who have taken advantage of the AFA is that the AFA is about "Building Bridges."

Here was one page from an AFA brochure that gives more info:

Go check out the AFA site for more info:  http://www.agfuture.org/s/1342/rd16/start.aspx
Follow them on twitter:  @AgFutureAmerica ‏


Global Farmer Network

The other organization that visited us was the Global Farmer Network.  I was two for two this week because I had not heard of the Global Farmer Network either.  I had to look up more info on this group.  Here is a quick recap of what I found:

We had 4 farmers from this network come visit for a Q&A with Bayer employees.  They were a joy to talk with and had very diverse backgrounds since they came from New Zealand, India, Argentina, and the US.    It was great to see how much the farmers support agricultural technology including GM options.  Even with all of the anti-GM opposition in India, Farmer Ravichangdran who is from India was advocating for science.  Go follow him on twitter:  @FarmerRaviVKV  He is very active on twitter and can give you a great perspective on agriculture in India.

With so many false claims running rampant on social media, we need farmers like Ravi spreading truth.

He is just one of many farmers in the Global farmers network that are out there raising awareness on multiple agricultural topics.  This is a group I will definitely pay more attention to going forward.  There website is full of lot of great information.

Go check out their website:  http://globalfarmernetwork.org/

Here are other twitter names to follow for the GFN
@World_Farmers 
@GlobalFarmerNet


My eyes are opened everyday to those who are advocating for science and agriculture.   Our youth is our future and it is easy to forget that we really need to take the time to support them.  Just sharing our own experiences and listening to their concerns and challenges goes a long way.  Other times we are in  a constant fight against the myths everywhere.   In a conversation I heard it mentioned that false information is like a virus and it spreads quicker than ever with internet and social media.  Just a few sentences can create fear that is so hard overcome.  Become an advocate and share the science.  These groups represent some great resources to get you started.