By DOUG SCHMITZ
Iowa Correspondent WAPELLO, Iowa — When Dakota Hoben makes the 2.5-hour trek from his Wapello family farm to Iowa State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences this fall, his four-year educational sojourn will ultimately take him home again.
“After college, I want to return to the family farm,” said the Louisa-Muscatine High School senior and Iowa FFA secretary who plans to double major in agribusiness and political science. “I would also love to get into politics, but most of these jobs don’t require me 12 months of the year.”
During and after college, Hoben said he’ll stay involved in the production side of his family farm, with the ultimate goal of promoting Iowa’s strength, the individuals, families and businesses that are integrated in Iowa’s agriculture industry.
“Going back to the farm would be the ideal place for me in the downtime that public servants have,” he added. “The best way I can describe this is (Sen.) Chuck Grassley’s (R-Iowa) situation. Going back to the farm just seems like the easiest place to start.”
With a farm already successfully operating, Hoben said there wouldn’t be the expensive start-up costs that go with starting one.
“All equipment, land, etc., is already in place,” he said. “The only thing that may need to be done is possibly a little expansion to support myself, my brother and my father, who all have the same ambition to farm.”
Hoben is one of nearly 600 Iowa FFA high school seniors who plan to return to farming, according to a survey taken at the organization’s 80th annual state leadership conference in Ames in April, where almost 1,500 members from across the state gathered.
The survey, conducted every two years by the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation’s Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers (CSIF), in cooperation with the Iowa FFA Assoc., asks Iowa FFA members about their interest in agriculture, education plans and desire to remain in Iowa upon starting their careers. It indicated that 97 percent of the 586 FFA members surveyed said they are optimistic about agriculture’s future, with three out of four indicating that they plan to live and work in Iowa after completing their education.
According to the survey, 75 percent said they will remain in the state upon obtaining their college degree, up from 70 percent from 2006; another 16 percent said they would leave Iowa for a few years, but return to pursue their careers and raise a family.
Aaron Putze, CSIF executive director, said Iowa FFA members see their home state as a destination, not a launching pad, which bodes well for Iowa.
“(The results) underscore the drawing power of agriculture in helping Iowa retain some of its best and brightest young people, while reinforcing the importance of high school vocational ag programs,” Putze said.
Of the 75 percent planning to return to the farm, 45 percent of respondents said they want to grow crops and raise livestock, while 22 percent want to raise livestock in conjunction with off-farm employment. Seventeen percent want to manage a full-time livestock farm, the survey indicated.
“The number of FFA members wanting a career in agriculture is significant, considering that nearly one of every three students who participated in the survey don’t live on a farm,” said Dale Gruis, state FFA advisor.
“In fact, nearly half of our Iowa FFA students come from an urban background. Yet, they see farming or an ag-related career as an exciting career option.”
Cal FFA senior Jordann Wenzel of Latimer, Iowa, was one of the overwhelming majority of state FFA members who is extremely optimistic about agriculture’s future. Wenzel, who lives and works on her Franklin County family farm and will graduate from high school next month, plans to attend ISU this fall, triple majoring in ag education, ag business and animal science.
“You’re always going to have agriculture because farmers are the ones who provide the food for a growing world population,” she said. “Farmers help sustain the nation.
“If you don’t have strong farms and people involved in agriculture, it would be difficult for the world to function. Iowa will always be ag-based and vital to the world. That’s a future that I want to be a part of.”
Moravia FFA member Brandon Weilbrenner of Albia, Iowa, said his generation is Iowa’s tomorrow.
“We know there are opportunities in agriculture and we know there are challenges, too. All we ask for is a chance to prove ourselves and to be able to do so in Iowa,” he said.
But Iowa FFA members are not the only ones planning a return to their family farms. Clinton High School senior Janell Baum of Clinton, Ill., for instance, will attend the University of Illinois to major in ag business management, and plans to return to her family’s horse and dairy farm.
“I will be staying in Illinois,” said the Illinois FFA state secretary. “I like the atmosphere and terrain. I enjoy my town and its central location.”
The Iowa Soybean Assoc. will award $2,000 in scholarships to each of 10 Iowa seniors this year, while the IFBF will invest $195,000 in 195 Iowa high school graduates majoring in agriculture.
This farm news was published in the May 21, 2008 issue of the Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee. |
