HAFFORD — For years I have watched as my older siblings attended 4-H trips. I could hardly wait until I was old enough to apply for one of the conferences that 4-H Saskatchewan or 4-H Canada offer to members age 16-21.
Saskatchewan 4-H sends approximately 10 members to Regina’s Agribition for the Canadian 4-H National Conference, as well as the Citizenship Conference that is held in Ottawa and one member to the National 4-H Conference in Washington, D.C.
To apply members need to answer questions about their 4-H involvement at the club, district, regional and provincial level, community volunteerism, extra-curricular activities and supply school marks as well as hand in three reference letters.
I was chosen for a trip and April 7 I was off to attend the National 4-H Conference along with one chaperone and nine other representatives for Canada, one from each province.
We started off our trip with all the Canadians meeting in Toronto. From there we flew to Washington, D.C and then drove to the National 4-H Conference Centre in Chevy Chase, Md. This is where we met up with approximately 350 youth from across the United States and a handful from Puerto Rico. We all slept in one huge building and shared rooms with three other people. My roommates were from Kansas, Ontario and Nova Scotia.
The conference’s main event was round table topics involving a youth perspective. The round table topic I chose to participate in was “Modern Ag.” I was grouped with 15 other youth and our challenge question was: How can farmers use a Farm Service Agency program to grow their businesses in ways that better connect them to consumers and help consumers learn more about agriculture
My team had to create a 30-minute presentation that we would later present to the FSA and United States Department of Agriculture. The three main topics we touched on where youth loans, micro/facility loans and increasing communication.
My group of 15 presented that, when a youth is granted a loan it gives a chance for agriculture-based and non-agricultural-based young adults to have life changing experiences that will help them better connect to consumers at a young age.
Similar to this, when a farmer receives a micro loan or facility loan we encourage them to use it towards agricultural tourism to help promote the education of consumers and create transparency.
Increasing communication between consumers and producers will help grow our business of farms. Through the use of these loan programs to encourage youth and grow the agricultural-tourism industry, the FSA is one step closer to bridging the gap between consumers and producers.
After we presented our roundtable topics to many associations, they let the Canadians loose, giving us tours around Washington and taking most of us on our very first metro ride.
We visited many tributes including the Martin Luther King Jr. monument and Abraham Lincoln monument. We also had a chance to see the White House, visit Capitol Hill, the Smithsonian and had an afternoon to spend touring the Canadian Embassy.
I am very grateful for this life changing opportunity. It’s something that I will never forget. I encourage other 4-H members to apply for any opportunity that is offered. They are a once in a lifetime trip and I am happy to have had the chance to represent 4-H Saskatchewan and 4-H Canada in such a memorable way.
