For the 3rd straight summer, I had the privilege of working in the UNL Extension Offices of the Central IV area which include: Howard, Sherman, Valley and Greeley Counties in Central Nebraska. Now, I could go on and tell you everything I accomplished and learned, but that would simply be boring. Therefore, I will discuss (in a 3 part blog series) three aspects of my summer that I believe we all can learn form and have our own "take-away". These three aspects are: Agvocating, Seed to Flower, and People, People, People! In first part of the series I talk about agvocating and will share (in what I think) is a powerful form of agvocating to utilize with individuals who come from metropolitan and suburban communities.
AGvocating!
Many of us have heard this word time and time again, but what does it really mean? Those of us in agriculture know that we need to share our story with individuals who are disconnected from the farm. Exactly how do we share that story? I had the privilege of working with a friend this summer who was also my co-worker as well, Miss Kaelen Lagasse. She is from a suburb in Los Angeles, California and by knowing her from college, I knew coming out to rural Nebraska she was going to have many questions about the farm and agricultural life. Kaelen is an awesome friend and anyone who knows both her and myself know that we love to debate.
When it came to ag discussions/debates like branding, castration, crates and cages (just to name a few) she would sometimes present a rebuttal from the "anti-agirculture" side of the debate. While I was able to respond to her, there were times I didn't think my reasoning and response to her questions always came across 100% clear. As the summer progressed, she seemed to have a better understanding of what went on around the farm. How did she gain that understanding? Some of her understanding came from talking to myself, Heather (our Extension Educator), and Penny (our Office Manager), but the practical understanding came when she was able to experience first hand the agricultural life through friends she met around Ord. Kaelen was able to gain better understanding of what goes on in production agriculture through being on the farm/ranch. Kaelen was also a featured speaker on Extension's "Animal Care Wednesdays" webinar (link at the bottom) with other UNL Extension staff. Her presentation was titled "The Questions Only An Outsider Can Ask". Within her discussion, she stated that for other individuals like herself who come from a suburban or metropolitan community, the experience of touring farms, seeing first-hand what happens on a farm, and how our food is produced is a is an outstanding opportunity to give individuals the insight of how our food is produced. By bringing people out to our farms and ranches may also assist in eliminating the agriculture misconceptions that are out in our country and world today.
Case and point: While it's awesome to promote agriculture through airing commercials on TV, placing the faces of producers in newspapers, brocures, etc., giving public presentations about the production of food, or running promotional agricultural ads on the radio, nothing is as powerful as a first hand experience! Every one of us who grew up on a farm have always shared with one another how awesome it was to be brought up on a farm. It has given us appreciation for all the work that goes into producing our food, and in turn, has also given us a strong work ethic and the amazing agriculture passion we each have today. Therefore, we need to be sharing experiences with others who grew up in a non-rural community by showing them in person our outstanding farms and ranches!
Kaelen really taught me a lot this summer about agvocating and how I can truly become a better agvocate by finding ways to bring the farm to people, or even better, bring the people to the farm. Having an "Outsider's" perceptive like Kaelen's is one we all can learn a lesson or two. Learning how we can better share agriculture with others will strengthen our passion and make us us stronger advocates for our amazing agriculture industry!
View Kaelen's Webinar "The Questions Only An Outsider Can Ask" Here!
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