FFA ag issues event prepares students for future
Whether it’s learning about eminent domain or water rights, FFA members from around the region gain public speaking and reasoning skills through the ag issues forum leadership development event.
FFA members do a tremendous amount of research and interviews when preparing their topic for the ag issues event. For South Dakota’s Beresford FFA Chapter, that meant interviewing people from the local ethanol plant, the Public Utilities Commission and a state legislator on eminent domain and specifically about a proposed CO2 pipeline that would go through many counties in the state and Veterans Parkway that runs along the south side of Sioux Falls.
Beresford FFA adviser Bridget Twedt said eminent domain is an important topic because it affects so many people.
“I believe it affects so many people from so many different aspects from your farmers to city people because we have to have our goods and services to us and the availability of getting that to and from,” Twedt said.
Beresford senior Kayla Jensen has participated in ag issues for three years. While learning about eminent domain and other topics, Jensen has also honed her public speaking skills.
“I like that you get to do acting and you get to come up with a problem or research a problem that’s happening right now in the world in agriculture and then get to show everybody that we present to about our topic because some people may not know about the issues that are going on and it helps give a better view of what’s going on in agriculture,” Jensen said.
This was Twedt’s first ag issues team to compete at the National FFA Convention held in October. Their team presented like a town hall meeting where students played the part of farmers, a highway department worker and ethanol plant employee to tell both sides of the issue.
For Montana’s Baker FFA Chapter, they presented their ag issue of American Prairie Reserve located in central Montana and how that has been impacting local ranches in central Montana and across the state and how that could have impacts on the ag industry in Montana. They framed their presentation as a county commission meeting with two members posing as neutral county commissioners. The pro side was a student acting as a representative from American Prairie and a student who is Native American who represented indigenous people and acted as a wildlife biologist. The con side had students representing Montana Stockgrowers and a rancher.
Baker senior Halle Brown competed for the first time in the ag issues contest last year. She thinks it is important for FFA members to participate in this contest to learn about ag topics in Montana.
“I think it’s really really important to learn about what is going on in your state so that you can really see what’s going on and not have a closed view,” Brown said.
Baker FFA adviser Abbey Wolenetz’s strategy in forming an ag issues team was finding a group of kids who were dedicated and passionate about the issue they were presenting on.
“Once those kids were committed and they started to become very knowledgeable about the issue, they became very passionate about it. I think that was what made us as successful as we were because the kids were really interested in the topic and they were exposed to leaders across the state of Montana and the nation that are insighting change on that issue which was really cool to see,” Wolenetz said.
When presenting in their state, they presented to American Prairie, the Montana Stockgrowers Association and representatives from Sen. Steve Daines’ office. To prep for their presentation, they spoke directly with organizations and read legal documents.
Nebraska’s Elwood FFA Chapter adviser Maggie Louthan said her students chose a topic that ran three miles past their high school. Chapter members tackled the issue of if water should be diverted from the Platte River to the Republican River and if that is a beneficial use of the water. She said currently Tri-Basin Natural Resources District has a water right application into the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources to divert 80 cubic feet per second to the Republican River to help offset the depletion of the river so that Kansas can get water.
In order to prepare, they talked to Tri-Basin NRD representatives, farmers, the Department of Roads and one student’s uncle who is a lawyer arguing against it. They presented to the local Farm Bureau, the board of Tri-Basin NRD, the school board, area farmers and state Sen. Teresa Ibach.
For their skit, they designed it so they were picketing outside the county courthouse and students played the roles of some from the Audubon Society, a farmer and the county sheriff.
Elwood junior Brody Diefenbaugh learned more about the issue by participating in the ag issues contest.
“The ag issues event is important because it teaches you about things that are locally around you. I had no idea what the Platte Republican diversion was and that it runs right through my hometown in Turkey Creek,” Diefenbaugh said. “It teaches you about current events that are around you.”
FFA members from Cheyenne High Plains FFA presented their ag issues topic of if livestock grazing should be limited based on climate change. Volunteer coach Karen Budd-Falen, an attorney, has coached ag issues teams in Cheyenne, Wyo., since 2011 when her daughter got involved.
Budd-Falen’s strategy in preparing students for the contest is to spend a lot of time looking at issues. She’ll send students different newspaper articles and different ag issues from the National Ag Law Center.
“I work with them to pick something with a local message – how is this going to affect farmers and ranchers in my county or state but also needs a national focus,” Budd-Falen said.
Besides learning about their particular ag issues topic, FFA members learn about public speaking and decision making.
Brown noted the ag issues contest prepares members to speak in front of people.
“It prepares you to go into a full room of people,” Brown said. “It helps you figure out how to do research and dig into a topic and understand the research.”
Twedt feels the ag issues contest is important because there are a lot of topics that people are not aware of or informed on.
“For these kids to dive into ag issues and dive into a topic is great because as a member of our community if something is going on in their community they can go in and look at the facts and truly know what’s going on and talk to people about that,” Twedt said. “I don’t think there’s enough people out there who do that.”
Jensen, Twedt’s student, agrees that she feels a lot more knowledgeable after participating in ag issues. She feels that it will help her in the future to make decisions by researching the topic.
Wyoming’s Budd-Falen likes the fact that the ag issues contest teaches students to listen to opposing opinions. She likes to model polite listening and asking polite questions when they are doing their research.
“You don’t have to agree with an opposing opinion but this whole country has gotten to where we can’t listen to someone with an opposing opinion without getting made and calling people names,” Budd-Falen said. “I really like teaching the kids that there’s a lot of things I disagree with but that doesn’t mean I hate the person; it means I don’t agree with their idea.”
Nebraska’s Louthan tells her kids that no matter what they believe or what they go to do, the most important thing is to be able to understand others and form their own opinions.
“You don’t have to agree with everyone and you shouldn’t. I think the ag issues contest really helps kids form their own opinions and be able to successfully find research and find ways to create those opinions rather than just doing their first instinct,” Louthan said.
Montana’s Wolenetz likes that her kids do the ag issues event to learn public speaking and communication skills, but more so that it helps them develop critical thinking skills.
“Not only does it give our kids some of the things that are obvious like public speaking and communication skills, but on a deeper level, it teaches our kids critical thinking skills and to dive deeper into issues rather than just believing everything they hear on the news or at the dinner table,” Wolenetz said.
