ICCSD Needs Farmers

Caption: On left, Anita Hemingway, a nurse at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and wife of Phil Hemingway (on right), who is a Iowa City Community School District Board Director and the owner/manager of Phil's Repair.

University of Iowa Hall of Fame football coach, Hayden Fry, started many traditions during his tenure with Iowa: the Swarm, the Hokey Pokey, and the America Needs Farmers (ANF) stickers on Hawkeye football helmets. He did it at a time when our nation and our state faced a tremendous farm crisis with many farmers and farms losing their land and their livelihood. Coach Fry recognized the challenges facing many of his players and his fan base during that time. By placing a simple yellow circle 2.5 inches wide with the letters ANF, he forever showed America's need for farmers. That tradition started in 1985 and continues to this day.

The need for farmers and a strong agricultural sector in our state is vital to our economy and our way of life. Changes in agriculture and food production have been dramatic since 1985. We can see the signs of it in our own communities and our nation. The local food movement and the strong presence of our own local farmers market and local food producers is changing how we view food and the people who produce it. The need for hard working, highly educated, and motivated food producers has never been greater. Competition, locally and internationally, demands more to be produced with less and with greater quality and safety. The need to provide opportunities and pathways for our students to these types of careers will never cease to exist.

Nationally, Future Farmers of America (FFA) is in all 50 states with 649,355 students in 7,859 chapters and in the state of Iowa, which has 14,800 students in 235 chapters. The Iowa City Community School District has never offered vocational agriculture or FFA to our students or community. Yet many who graduate from our schools go on to careers in agricultural and related fields. The demand for agricultural workers is not limited to just farmers and herders; it includes the need for agricultural engineers, chemists, business and finance workers, programmers, transportation workers, and manufacturing workers.

The January 10, 2018 Des Moines Register highlighted the accomplishments of Matthew Rooda, a University of Iowa business school senior and entrepreneur who invented a shock patch for sows to keep them from crushing and killing their piglets. The invention won him a $30,000 prize from the Iowa Farm Bureau Association.

Vocational agriculture and FFA (Vo-Ag/FFA) offer tremendous opportunities to all students from any background and any walk of life. The vast majority of students involved in FFA today do not live or work on farms. The curriculum and opportunities provided by Vo-Ag/FFA will help every student in every occupational pursuit.

There are three major components to vocational agricultural education:

1. Classroom/laboratory instruction: students learn concepts and theories dealing with a broad spectrum of agricultural and agribusiness topics. The classroom is followed by the laboratory where concepts and theories are applied. Students are taught hands-on skills that ensure those skills are practical and usable.

2. Supervised agricultural experience (SAE) projects put both classroom and laboratory instructions into practice. Students work and learn in real life situations so they obtain on-the-job skills. SAE projects can vary from traditional home projects to entrepreneurship or cooperative work experience in production or agribusiness.

3. FFA (student leadership organizations, personal growth, career success, and engagement) provides an avenue for developing leadership skills. As an integral, intra-curricular component of the agricultural education program, FFA teaches leadership in a variety of ways. FFA also provides incentives for improved student performance through its awards program. Agriculture teachers have always stressed the importance of problem solving and decision-making. Thereby, students are better equipped to cope with constant changes occurring not only in agriculture, but also in life.

The ICCSD Board of Directors will discuss the potential addition of vocational agriculture and FFA at the January 23rd board meeting.

In conclusion, vocational agriculture and the FFA provide more to our students and community than cows, sows, and plows. Let's start our own tradition by valuing vocational agriculture and the FFA in our community.

-- Phil Hemingway

(The views expressed are mine alone and are not intended to represent the views of the ICCSD board as a whole.)