Ag Students Define Spirit of Agriculture

By Brooke Schultz, CRI

“An important percent of the current ag college graduates are returning to the farm,
which is another positive trend. However, a five-year projection indicates we will
be short over 15,000 ag graduates in the year 2020."

This was an eye-opening remark made by CEO Doug Wilson at the 2015 CRI annual meeting. While it’s nice to know agriculture college graduates return to their roots and what, more than likely, initiated their love for agriculture, you can’t help but focus on the latter half of that statement – the agriculture industry will, no doubt, suffer with a shortage of over 15,000 ag graduates.

With the decline of agriculture-related graduates, one thing has become evident for those who do choose to pursue that career path: they, must absolutely, without a doubt, be passionate about agriculture. The future of agriculture depends on hardworking, skilled, passionate young adults who are truly vested in arguably the most important industry worldwide. Keeping that in mind, our panel of judges selected four of 70 applicants to be awarded our first-ever CRI Collegiate Scholarship (next application period begins in January 2016).

Within the CRI Collegiate Scholarship application, students were asked to share what agriculture means to them and what lessons they learned from their agriculture involvement. With the answers we received, we know the future of agriculture looks bright. It was humbling to read about their passion for agriculture and what it has done for them, and we thought our four CRI Collegiate Scholarship recipients’ answers were too good not to share.

Between all four of their responses, they covered topics that define the essence of agriculture: a positive outlook, hard work, family and passion.

While some people may have a negative outlook on agriculture, scholarship award winner Gabryelle Gilliam from Washington, Kansas, proved with a little hard work and a positive mindset, agriculture can regain assurance and flourish as it has in the past. “I have learned that a positive outlook and influence is always needed in order to put a halt to some of the negativity agriculture has been facing. Our job as advocates is to get people to realize we are all the same, and we all rely on agriculture to survive."

People in all aspects of the agriculture industry know hard work and determination is what gets the job done, as Jeremy Davis of Bingham, Nebraska, illustrated. “Growing up on a ranch, I was given the experiences of actually working from a very young age. It was through these experiences that I learned work ethic and the mentality that if you are going to do it, do it the right way.” This is an important attitude to have in all aspects of your life, but especially in the agriculture field. With producers working extended hours, putting your all into your work the first time significantly decreases your chances of having to go back and do it again. And as we know, you do not have the time to backtrack! Giving minimal effort is not an option. You give it your all, all the time.

Agriculture is oftentimes associated with family and togetherness, and having a strong family connection helps you understand agriculture’s impact on both a local and global perspective. Madison Schafer from Goodhue, Minnesota, did an excellent job portraying the connection between family and agriculture by stating, “Family ties are what keep a farm going long after any other business would simply throw in the towel, and family is the structure that American agriculture has been built upon. I’ve learned what it means to dedicate yourself to something and really follow through with it to the end. I’ve also learned how important it is to celebrate the little things in life in the area of farming, because in the end: Farming isn’t just a way to make a living; it’s a way to make a life."

Can we all just take a moment to stop and re-read that last sentence? We couldn’t have said it better ourselves, Madison. This is the kind of outlook all agriculture graduates need to have. With future agriculturalists viewing their jobs not as something they need to do, but rather something they want to do, it gives us assurance that, despite the decreasing number of ag graduates, those who are pursuing agricultural degrees are passionate about it.

Speaking of passion, Gretta Binversie of Kiel, Wisconsin, explained how her passion for agriculture will propel her to succeed in agriculture. “The daily agriculture experience and contribution has elicited an attraction, love and passion I cannot simply give up. It presented an opportunity to know how it feels to work hard every single day while staying motivated and optimistic."

Seriously, with that kind of positive attitude, how can you not trust that these students will be a driving factor to what keeps agriculture alive? These are the kind of statements that prove it’s about quality, not quantity. Today’s agriculture students are dedicated, honorable young adults who will continue to make agriculture prosper. Maybe we don’t have the numbers, but we sure have the heart.