By Jennifer Dorsett
Field Editor
FFA chapters have been visiting Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) this month as students prepare for the upcoming agricultural issues forum competition.
The agricultural issues forum Leadership Development Event (LDE) consists of teams of three to seven students who research a current agricultural issue and develop a presentation stressing both pros and cons of that topic.
Teams must then make a presentation to a minimum of five public audiences and create a portfolio documenting the events, listing their research and detailing steps that could be taken to address or resolve their chosen issue.
“The public forums are an invaluable resource for gaining confidence and really just drilling down on the kids’ presentation skills,” Jordan Hevner, agricultural science teacher and FFA advisor at East Central High School in San Antonio, said. “They learn so much from the experience. We’re especially excited to present to Texas Farm Bureau staff, because they know so much about current agricultural topics and can really help us learn more and get better at defending our issue.”
This week, Hevner’s agricultural issues team presented their forum to TFB staff members, debating whether products that do not contain meat or dairy should be allowed to use labeling terms depicting them as such.
TFB staff quizzed Hevner’s students after the debate over current legal challenges to meat and dairy labeling, regulatory and marketing issues and other relevant topics.
In addition to testing the girls’ knowledge and understanding of the issue, staffers offered advice on presentation skills and public speaking.
The all-female team participated in a spirited discussion, with members Johanna Durham and Shelby Pieniazek presenting a case as to why words such as “milk” or “burger” could be considered general marketing terms and not to be used exclusively for labeling animal-based meat and dairy products.
Candace Landrum and Joslyn Villareal argued against the use of words traditionally associated with meat and dairy in vegetarian or vegan products as misleading and deceptive to consumers and harmful to farmers and ranchers. Amber Moreno moderated the forum and participated in the following question-and-answer session.
“Presenting to other people really helps us memorize our lines and become better speakers,” Pieniazek said. “We’ve gotten so much better from when we started to where we are now.”
And practicing the forum for agriculture-savvy audiences like TFB staff not only aids teams in developing presentation and speaking skills but helps them better understand the issue and advocate for agriculture in the future.
“Practicing boosts our confidence, but that’s not all,” Villareal said. “The questions you ask us and how you explain things after we’ve answered give us a better understanding of agriculture and the issue we chose. We’re not just presenting, we’re learning.”
At the statewide LDE competition, teams must be able to defend their findings and answer judges’ questions. They will be graded based on a combination of portfolio scores and presentation scores.
TFB is a corporate sponsor of the agricultural issues forum. This year’s state LDEs will take place at Sam Houston State University Dec. 6 -7.