Agriculture For the Future

Home sweet home... FN Ranch!

Agriculture is more than just a job to producers, and more than just the source of food for consumers. Agriculture fuels the world, both metaphorically and literally! Agriculture is the driving force behind communities, and essentially the basis of the world's economy. So it only seems logical that agriculture must be preserved for the future. Why is it then that farmers and ranchers often get paid below what their products are worth and are treated as being less important, less educated, and less valuable than someone such as the CEO of a transnational company. Farmers and ranchers are the CEO's of their own companies which provide the most essential product for life on earth... food. Farmers and ranchers may not be educated in the same way as a CEO, however they are certainly educated by hands on learning in their own field of work and know how to do things I doubt any CEO of a big name company could even begin to be able to accomplish. Farmers and ranchers today are also becoming more proactive in educating themselves off the farm/ranch with programs such as AFAC, Verified Beef Production, Alberta Environmental Farm Plan, and Farm Safety courses.

Nothing like newborn calves to remind you why you love agriculture!

The days of the family farm are all too often only memories of the past as generations of farming and ranching families are being forced to sell their heritage, lifestyle, and livelihood as a result of poor market prices, unfortunate set-backs such as B.S.E., and ultimately not being paid enough for their products to break even yet alone make a profit. However, agriculture is an evolving business and commodity and as things seem to be taking a much overdue turn for the better in regards to market prices, it seems that there may be a few of us young agriculture enthusiasts crazy enough to still want to get into the business that we are so passionate about. Call us die-hards, suckers for punishment, or foolish dreamers... but we ARE going to make this industry work, and we ARE going to find the profit in an industry that was historically the majority of the population's occupation. Yes, it will be an uphill battle, but I have faith that one day this crazy world is going to come full circle and agriculture is going to be supremely important in the eyes of everyone once again. We all need to eat, and the world's population is growing rapidly, so when people's focus shifts from getting food for cheap to just being able to get food... the farmer and rancher will become more than just the common man. 

Thinking about life at the most beautiful place on Earth... Ya Ha Tinda!

What all this brings me to is my own future in agriculture. I plan on being involved in agriculture for a long time to come. I've already got a pretty good start on my life in agriculture growing up on a ranch, participating extensively in the 4-H program, junior cattle shows, etc. After I graduate (next year... wish it was this year - thanks Mama J for holding me back so I'd be the old fart in my class haha) I plan on taking the Agriculture Management program at Olds College and then from there getting a degree in Agribusiness either from Olds College or the University of Alberta. Right now my thoughts are that I would like to work for Alberta 4-H and/or be an agricultural event planner at some place like Northlands. I also want to keep doing photography on the side. Of course I would like to have my own ranch and have a large herd of cattle and some horses. I'd also love to carry on showing some of my own cattle. 4-H has been a huge part of my life and I'd love to be able to give back and become a leader of a beef and/or horse club. I hope that my children will want to be as much a part of ranching, 4-H, and agriculture in general as I have been. 


But plans don't always go how you think they should... so I guess we'll see! No matter what I know I want to stay involved in agriculture as well as keep on advocating for agriculture!