Myths of Ag: The Truth From a FFA/4-H Member
There are many articles written by grown adults targeting the youth and the future of agriculture. Blaming kids for “murdering” their animals when in reality they are providing for the country, even through the hardship of losing a best friend.
Showing animals in 4-H and FFA serves as a foundation for youth agricultural development. We as students are raised to provide as we are the future of agriculture. It is sad to see many people come after the agricultural youth without any acknowledgment or intellectual background. FFA and 4-H should be allowed in all aspects, as these organizations serve as a foundation and home for many students. So let’s get this straight.
First of all, let’s talk about the phrase “Why FFA and 4-H have no place in schools.” People do not understand how important these organizations are for students like me. FFA and 4-H give me a place of reason. They are also my home. I can express myself and learn new things about my future occupation.
FFA and 4-H cultivate the best leaders of tomorrow. Through speech, career, and leadership development students can come out of high school with more knowledge that prepares them for any occupation they wish to pursue. Taking this away from students would be criminal. Agriculture have been the roots of our society ever since the creation of the Earth. Without agriculturalists we would practically starve. These youth programs provide students like me with a safe place to go, more friends to meet, and more memories to make.
Next let’s discuss the assumption that students “murder” and “abuse” their animals. Some people do not understand the hard work and effort we as students put in to our animals. We work thousands of hours to train them, feed them, and water them. It is the same concept as training a dog to sit down, but that’s not animal abuse is it?
If you go to any students house you would realize the love we give our animals. For instance, if you go to the Fort Worth Stock Show during the heifer show, you would walk outside to the tie outs and see an endless sea of kids laying with their heifers. We do not abuse our animals. We provide the best possible life for them at all costs.
We do not murder our animals either. When you get a market animal, you have the understanding that at one show or another, your animal will have to go for slaughter. This is because those show animals do not have any other reason for production except for meat production. Those male animals can not reproduce anymore, and so they are only worth taking to the slaughter plant.
Even then, we understand that this is the outcome. It is a very hard pill to swallow, even if you have been showing for nearly ten years. But we understand that because of our hard work, we are feeding America. We are providing food for millions of people. You can not take away the meat industry, it is impossible. If you try to take it away the United States will be filled with thousands of meat production animals that have no use but to take up millions of dollars in feed just to get fat. At that point, the population of those animals would become way too high. Many of the population do not understand the ratio of population to farmland. We hardly have enough farmland left to provide for the population now, what about future generations from us who have little to no farmland for food production?
Overall let us get one thing straight. The National FFA Organization and 4-H Club will never go away. We DO NOT “murder” or “abuse” our animals, and we certainly DO NOT mistreat them. We as students know our part in today’s society. We as the youth and future of agriculture understand that we are the people feeding America.