AgEx 2024 - Victoria Pitsiaeli
On November 20th, I had the amazing opportunity to speak at Farm Management Canada’s Agricultural Excellence Conference as a youth representative from 4-H. AgEx, as it is often called, brings together farmers, agricultural organization representatives, advisors, academics and government officials from across Canada in an annual conference to discuss big issues and current events in Canadian agriculture and farm management. This year, the three-day conference was held in Abbotsford, BC with the theme of Together, Towards, Tomorrow, focusing on the importance of everyone working together, sharing their collective strengths and utilizing innovation to position Canada’s farmers and ranchers for sustainable growth long into the future.
I opened the event on day two with a presentation about the “Future of Agriculture.” I focused on the divide between urban and rural Canadians in their views of agriculture and how essential positive youth development programs and agricultural education, such as 4-H, are in helping bridge the gap and have everyone see agriculture as a system that they are a part of to continue to innovate and build the sector. In essence, this is my story and how 4-H led me, starting at age 8 to become interested in agriculture and ultimately led me to study it at university. In my education at UBC, we often talk about agriculture as a food system that everyone is a part of, whether as a farmer, food processor, policymaker, deliverer, nutritionist, land manager or informed consumer, and that everyone takes on a role, whether they realize it or not. I like this model because it shows agriculture as a community, something we are all connected to and have a stake in. People are at the center of food systems and we need to invest in them as the next generation of leaders. This is the message I wanted to drive home.
After my presentation, I spent the rest of the day meeting other conference attendees and attending workshop presentations. I am always so encouraged by the strong presence 4-H has in agricultural communities across so many generations and was amazed by how many people shared that they were also 4-H alumni. Some of my favorite presentations included the importance of leveraging data in providing evidence for Canadian agriculture sustainability, round-table discussions with agriculture-focused organizations, from BCAC to BC Young Agrarians to MNP, a RealAgRadio live recording discussing farmer-focused opinions on new innovations and policies and a panel discussion about how we can advocate for agriculture through public-facing initiatives and social media. It gave me so much to think about!
By attending conferences that share so many aspects of agriculture, I am becoming aware of how many opportunities there are in the industry, how many different careers are available and how many different ways there are to make an impact, and I think that is so exciting. As my time as a 4-H Ambassador comes to a close, I am constantly reminded of the importance of proudly presenting 4-H and agriculture as a whole. This is something we can all participate in, whether you’re spending time with friends, meeting new people at a 4-H event, posting on social media or attending a conference, we can all be positive representatives and act as that link to agriculture for people in our lives. You never know, it could change their life.
Thank you Farm Management Canada and to all the sponsors for a wonderful conference as well as to 4-H for providing me with the opportunity to attend. I encourage all 4-Hers to attend as many events of this kind as they can as they are very inspiring. Truly, the future of agriculture is in good hands.
