Forever Blue

When I was asked to write a blog for the Iowa FFA, I thought to myself, “What could I possibly write about?” My FFA experience was so rich, and it continues to give back to me, but how can I narrow it down? How could I write something that would make a difference for those reading it? Although I am sure that I don’t have the “one size fits all” fits all blog, here is what I have come up with after reflecting on this prompt.

Commit. What does it mean to you to commit to something? For me, it’s easy; find something you love doing, and commit to it. Personally, I hope that is FFA, but it can be anything. My brother committed to playing the tuba in 5th grade, and now he travels the world playing that big, clunky, instrument. My wife committed to becoming a personal trainer, and now trains people in our local community. You see, it doesn’t matter what it is you are committing to; just find that passion and commit to it. The more experiences I have in life, the more important I realize commitment is.

Engage. It is so important to tell your story. As people involved in the agricultural industry, we often get caught up trying to tell agricultures story, but from my perspective, the most powerful story is our own. If you are in a community where FFA isn’t supported, engage with your community. If you are in a community where FFA is supported, engage with your community. We spend so much time trying to engage about the bad, when in all reality, we need to be engaging about the good as well. Tell people about your story. Tell your community about the wins your FFA chapter has had. Engage with those different than you and understand their story as well.

Serve. Today, we often get caught up with titles. This person has this degree or has this job. That person got elected to that position or has “Secretary” written on their jacket. While those things are all important to those individuals and may be “cool”, in all reality, it is incredibly important to serve wherever you are at. Whether that is volunteering at your local food bank, serving as a State FFA Officer, or being the CEO of John Deere, servant leadership is vital to not only your success, but those around you. If you find a group of yours is struggling for some reason, first look at yourself. How can you serve that group better or differently?

Give. It has been quite a few years since I have zipped up my blue corduroy jacket, but I still find myself trying to come back to the organization. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t try to sneak into State Convention with my suspenders and tie on, but I find myself wanting to give back. For me, that has meant serving on the Iowa FFA Foundation Board of Directors, giving back to local FFA chapters, and training rock stars for FFA State Officer Interviews. This could mean something totally different to you, but here is my ask: give back to FFA. There is such a need on the local, state and national level for support. This can be monetarily, as a judge at sub-district convention, or as a chaperone to an event. If you are reading this as an FFA member, you are probably thinking, “Josh is meaning this for someone else”; but you are dead wrong. Find a way to give back to FFA as a member. Mentor a freshman in their first ag class. Present your prepared public speech to your local Rotary Club. When you aren’t a member anymore, remember the opportunities you had and give back so future FFA members can have that same opportunity.

I leave you with this: FFA is an organization that has allowed me to have so many opportunities. In fact, it is still giving back to me. Commit to something you love doing. Engage with those around you. Serve where you are when you are there. Give to FFA in whatever capacity you can. If we all do these few things, not only will we be successful as individuals, but FFA will continue to be the best student-lead organization in the world.

Forever Blue,

Josh Earl

2013-2014 State President

Advocate to Educate

When someone says or believes something that we disagree with, it can be easy for our emotions to get the best of us. We don’t understand why they would think something like that at all. I will admit that I am 100% guilty of this. In these situations, my competitive nature says, “you’re wrong. Let me tell you why I’m the one who’s right.” In agriculture, we see differences in beliefs all the time. We hear about it on TV, social media, even in people’s conversations at the grocery store. We see it in the non-GMO labels scattered all throughout the aisles as a marketing scheme. Of course this upsets us, but what approach do we take in confronting these misconceptions?

While I was in Spain earlier this year, we visited a beef cattle farm. At first sight, the facilities didn’t seem a whole lot different than what we might see here in the United States. Once we began our tour and stepped through the day to day operations of the farm, we started becoming much more aware of the differences in practices. Because Spain belongs to the European Union, the agricultural industry of the country faces several regulations and restrictions. During our tour we were able to learn about the regulations within the realm of beef cattle. The first one the owner and manager of the farm spoke with us about was the use of “stimulants.” He explained that the EU strictly prohibits the use of antibiotics and hormones throughout the duration of an animal’s life. When asked how the cattle are kept healthy, the farmer replied that they are able to vaccinate animals within the first four months of the individual animal’s arrival on the farm. After that, everything is completely natural. The beliefs behind this practice suggest that the said “stimulants” affect the quality of the meat. Aside from stimulants, bulls are also not castrated at any point in the production process. The farmers believe that this creates a stress-free environment. At the end of our visit, the farmer encouraged us to keep everything natural in the process of cattle production as it results in clean meat.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks later and I’m back in the United States as the Starbucks milk fiasco is in full force. I’ll admit, I was kind of upset about it too. I don’t normally go to Starbucks, but I was upset to hear about another business displaying miseducation of the agricultural industry which affected the beliefs of consumers. While some people were threatening to boycott Starbucks, instagram user @brandibuzzard had a different approach. She posted a video on instagram encouraging agriculturalists to do the exact opposite of boycotting. She said that the next time she goes to Starbucks, she’s going to ask for REAL milk to show that there is in fact a demand for it.

These two stories might not seem like it, but they actually have a lot in common. Two different parties are miseducated on an agricultural topic. Now in the first example, we kind of blew off the final remarks of the farmer and thought to ourselves, “yeah whatever we’re going to do what we want.” We didn’t think to stop and have a conversation with the man about why we use the practices that we do. In the second example, the simple answer was, “I’m never going to Starbucks again.” Again, we didn’t think about sitting down and having a conversation about it. In both cases we were frustrated and upset. As agriculturalists, we have a choice to make. When we hear these things that frustrate us, there’s two options. We can be mad and storm off, or we can respectfully provide education on the topic. Instead of saying, “I’m never going to Starbucks again,” we can actually go to Starbucks and politely tell them why it is that we want real milk in our hot chocolate or whatever it is that we might order. As advocates for the industry, we accomplish nothing by responding with an eye roll or a boycott. If we provide education, we open minds.

Advocate to Educate,

Hope Brecht

Southeast State Vice President

Iowa FFA Association