AMERICAN TOWNSHIP — Elida’s future agriculture professionals rubbed elbows Sunday night with a statewide agriculture leader Sunday night.
“It’s my pleasure and honor to be part of these youths’ annual banquet because this is where the leaders of tomorrow — for not only of Ohio, but our nation— are born,” said Dorothy Pelanda, director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, who was the invited guest speaker at this year’s Elida Future Farmers of America banquet at the Old Barn Restaurant & Grill.
Pelanda praised the leadership skills FFA teaches students, such as parliamentary procedure and public speaking, as well as the value of hard work and discipline.
“Preserving farmland is one of ODA’s top priorities because agriculture continues to be the No. 1 industry in the state of Ohio, providing one in every eight jobs to Ohioans,” Pelanda said. “For every student here who has the ability to carry on this industry, there is an agriculture-related job waiting for them, whether it be in science, communications or IT.”
Pelanda invited the group to tour the ODA in Columbus to visit the research labs, talk to the state veterinarian and learn from the many leaders who rose through the ranks of the FFA.
Representing each student group at the presentation were Isabella Schlosser (first-year members), Silvia Morales (second-year members), Sara Munson (third-year members) and Victoria Burgess (fourth-year members).
Of special mention were the 2021-2022 Elida FFA officer team, Silvia Morales (president), Caurina Janev (vice president), Sara Munson (secretary), Victoria Burgess (treasurer), Cheyanne Pack (reporter), Isabella Schlosser (student advisor) and Tytus Daily (sentinel).
“I’m very proud of our FFA organization,” said Dennis Fricke, the Apollo representative for Elida schools, whose family has been FFA members for three generations. Over that time, a variety of new technologies, such as tractors equipped with GPS performing soil mapping and aerial drones, have revolutionized the agriculture industry. Fricke, who owns a 500-acre farm, said FFA is an amazing organization helping students today prepare for the jobs of the future.
Joe Callow, who is a year out of college and employed locally with the local Kenn-Feld Group, a John Deere dealership, said he’s received a lot of training on the new technologies available.
“The growth in technology has resulted in precision farming and the need for more engineers in the field because the machines are now much more complex,” he said.
The benefits are worth it, Callow said. Not only is the implementation of new technology saving time, it also helps the environment. For example, using soil maps and prescriptions made by an agronomist, farmers can put nutrients only where they’re needed, when they’re needed, he said. This targeted use of fertilizers helps to reduce fertilizer runoff. Additional emerging agricultural technologies include those driven by artificial intelligence.
The next generation of farmers will be equipped to use new technologies that will be needed to counter climate change, population increase and the overall shrinkage of farmland across Ohio and the nation.
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