Agriculture is an essential part of our everyday life. As members of the Agricultural industry, it is critical for us to understand how broad our industry is and the many areas it encompasses. As United States citizens become more generations removed from the farm and Agriculture industry as a whole, we must prepare to advocate for our industry. We must understand what advocacy is, why it is important for us to advocate, and how to become successful advocators. It is beneficial to research how other colleges are advocating for Agriculture. We can implement what we learned through our research at Northwest Missouri State University.
Agriculture
Defining agriculture may be one of the most challenging tasks I have ever faced. Our Ag. Advocacy …show more content…
Many people understand Agriculture as simply farming. As we should know, Agriculture is much more than farming. Agriculture is the process of producing food, feed, fiber and many other desired products by the cultivation of certain plants and the raising of domesticated animals (Agriculture, n.d.). To me, that definition acknowledges that we produce products, but does not include the marketing, processing, or distribution of those products. Monsanto, a large seed company, has a better definition of Agriculture. Agriculture has reshaped human civilization. For the most part, these changes have been good ones. But as we enter a new era of human history, agriculture faces new challenges and new responsibilities (What is Agriculture?, n.d.). In my opinion, this definition is better than the previous definition because it acknowledges that Agriculture is an evolving industry that is constantly pushing to better …show more content…
Michigan State University hosts an Extension Breakfast on the Farm event. The college has hosted the event for seven years and has introduced more than 74,000 people to modern Agriculture, and it is all possible because farm families are willing to open their doors and welcome visitors to their homes (Dunckel, 2015). During Breakfast on the Farm, attendees are able to milk cows, pet a calf, take wagon rides, see tractors, and eat ice cream. This event encourages participants to get hands on learning about agriculture.
There are several other things we can implement in our local community to help advocate for agriculture, such as the following:
• Ask your community library to display food and agriculture literary works to complement national agriculture recognitions such as national agriculture day and week (March), strawberry month (May), dairy month (June), national turkey lover’s month (June), national chicken month (September) to name a few (Dunckel, 2015).
• Invite neighbors to an open house on the farm complete with pizza or ice cream and guided tours of the farm (Dunckel,
Agriculture
Defining agriculture may be one of the most challenging tasks I have ever faced. Our Ag. Advocacy …show more content…
Many people understand Agriculture as simply farming. As we should know, Agriculture is much more than farming. Agriculture is the process of producing food, feed, fiber and many other desired products by the cultivation of certain plants and the raising of domesticated animals (Agriculture, n.d.). To me, that definition acknowledges that we produce products, but does not include the marketing, processing, or distribution of those products. Monsanto, a large seed company, has a better definition of Agriculture. Agriculture has reshaped human civilization. For the most part, these changes have been good ones. But as we enter a new era of human history, agriculture faces new challenges and new responsibilities (What is Agriculture?, n.d.). In my opinion, this definition is better than the previous definition because it acknowledges that Agriculture is an evolving industry that is constantly pushing to better …show more content…
Michigan State University hosts an Extension Breakfast on the Farm event. The college has hosted the event for seven years and has introduced more than 74,000 people to modern Agriculture, and it is all possible because farm families are willing to open their doors and welcome visitors to their homes (Dunckel, 2015). During Breakfast on the Farm, attendees are able to milk cows, pet a calf, take wagon rides, see tractors, and eat ice cream. This event encourages participants to get hands on learning about agriculture.
There are several other things we can implement in our local community to help advocate for agriculture, such as the following:
• Ask your community library to display food and agriculture literary works to complement national agriculture recognitions such as national agriculture day and week (March), strawberry month (May), dairy month (June), national turkey lover’s month (June), national chicken month (September) to name a few (Dunckel, 2015).
• Invite neighbors to an open house on the farm complete with pizza or ice cream and guided tours of the farm (Dunckel,