By Jennifer Dorsett
Field Editor
Texas Farm Bureau’s (TFB) longstanding partnership with Texas FFA helps students develop agricultural advocacy skills, achieve personal growth and prepare to be future leaders.
And over the past few weeks, TFB has contributed to youth development by hosting agricultural issues forums presented by FFA chapters from across the state.
“We help FFA build student agricultural literacy and advocacy,” Mia Balko, TFB director of Youth Outreach, said. “But we also promote Texas Farm Bureau to students who may not really know what our organization does and what we stand for. Students we work with often end up participating in our Youth Leadership Conference and applying for TFB scholarships.”
TFB offers one-hour time slots every fall to interested chapters to present their agricultural issues forums and receive feedback from TFB employees. This year, 16 teams gave presentations.
The FFA agricultural issues forum is a Leadership Development Event (LDE). It consists of teams of three to seven students, who must research a current agricultural issue and develop a presentation highlighting 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.
In Waco, students presented forums on a variety of topics, including industrial hemp production, plant-based meat labeling, wind farm developments and state regulatory agency functions.
FFA chapters that visit TFB for their forums gain experience in public speaking and presentation skills and build relationships and learn from TFB staff.
“We’re here to provide a technical resource to students,” Jay Bragg, TFB Commodity and Regulatory Activities associate director, said. “In my role, I cover natural resource issues that affect Texas agriculture. We had a group present on wind farms, and because it’s a topic we’re currently watching and covering, we were really able to help those kids connect some of the issues and challenges facing farmers and ranchers when wind turbines start going up in their fields and around their livestock.”
After testing students’ knowledge and understanding of the issue, staff members often assist them in learning more about the topic. Staff offer detailed explanations, resources and presentation suggestions to the students not only to assist them in the contest, but to prepare them to advocate for agriculture.
“We do this because we want the students to increase their knowledge and awareness about agriculture and issues we face as an industry,” Balko said. “Many of the kids who participate in agricultural issues forums become interested in and pursue careers in that area. It helps them be better advocates for agriculture not only now, but throughout their lifetimes.”
During LDE competitions, teams must be able to defend their findings and answer judges’ questions. They are graded based on a combination of portfolio scores and presentation scores.
After competing in district LDE competitions, winning teams will advance to area competitions and finally to the state level. District LDEs begin in November, and state LDEs will take place at Sam Houston State University Dec. 6 -7.
TFB is a corporate sponsor of Texas FFA. In addition to student scholarship opportunities and other support, TFB offers complimentary memberships to more than 1,000 FFA chapters across the Lone Star State.
For more information on Texas FFA, visit their website at http://texasffa.org.
To learn more about TFB’s youth programs, visit https://texasfarmbureau.org/youth/.