Young farmers and ranchers gather in Hutchinson

By Jennifer M. Latzke

The crowd at the recent Kansas Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers meeting was the largest in recent memory.

Attendance at the recent meeting held at the Grand Prairie Hotel in Hutchinson, Kan., neared 300. Young farmers and ranchers and their families from across the state met and discussed issues important to their agribusinesses.

Adapting to change

The keynote speaker of the conference was Orion Samuelson, long-time agricultural broadcaster, who spoke on the future of agriculture. Samuelson advised the young producers in the crowd that whatever made them successful yesterday will not make them successful tomorrow. Change, he said, is not easy but it's far better to be pulling the change than to be pushed into it.

One example of change Samuelson gave is the increasing globalization of agriculture trade. He told attendees that 95 percent of their market will be outside of U.S. borders, and those buyers have different needs.

"They want to look into the eyes of the seller on these trade missions," he said. Promotion of products is key to making the sale in the export market, especially in trying times of BSE, avian influenza and a host of other issues. Above all, U.S. growers shouldn't fight globalization, but live, learn, and take advantage of it.

One way to take advantage of the new marketplace is to find a niche market, and to do so; producers must listen to consumers' concerns and respond in a responsible way.

"PETA can make the front page and 10 o'clock news every day," Samuelson said. "But, groups like this one can't. You must pursue educational programs in schools and elsewhere. It's so easy to respond emotionally, but don't play their game. Sooner or later, the truth will win out, so think before you respond to an attack on agricultural practices."

Samuelson gave examples of programs such as Ag in the Classroom, which reach out to elementary students and their parents and teach about farming and ranching and their affects on daily lives.

As to the most asked question he receives from young farmers? The answer is yes; there is a future in agriculture. Two careers of promise he sees in agricultural are ag and environmental lawyers, and specialists in international marketing.

"If you're asking the question, you ought not be in it," Samuelson said. "Of course there's a future. If you really want something in this country you can do it, but it won't be easy." There must be a passing of the leadership mantle from the older generation to the younger, he said.

Teaching new leaders

The impetus behind the convention was to do just that--pass the leadership mantle from the older generation to the younger generation. Workshops educated attendees on how to lobby for agriculture, and discussed some of the challenges of women managing farms, and keeping safe when working on the farm.

Other leadership workshops covered topics such as: Generational differences among members; educating schoolchildren about agriculture; looking at the farm or ranch as a business; and lobbying for change in Congress. There were also education opportunities to learn about renewable energy plants, the National Animal Identification System and KFB's Beef Verification Solution, and water issues.

Leaders of the Kansas Farm Bureau also spoke to the young attendees about the roles they will play in a changing agricultural industry. Steve Baccus, Kansas Farm Bureau president, from Ottawa County, spoke on the population shifts occurring in rural Kansas.

Graham County lost the highest percentage of its population in the 1990s, and Baccus attributed the 17 percent loss to a dying older population, and not enough new births, as well as younger generations leaving for opportunities elsewhere.

Johnson County, though, experienced an increase of 27 percent in its population during the same time. Not only do these population shifts mean trouble economically for rural Kansas communities, but they also drive political representation.

"Two years ago, the state legislature began being dominated by urban areas," Baccus said. "There is no longer a rural dominance." It's up to the new members of Farm Bureau, he said, to educate these urban legislators on the issues that affect their livelihoods, and to spread the word about agriculture.

Some of those issues include international trade agreements, rural economic development, new domestic farm programs, and relationships with environmental groups.

"Get off the tractor and get involved and educated about the issues," Baccus said. "You either make your own future, or someone will make it for you."

Looking for solutions

The closing speaker, Vincent Amanor-Boadu, director of the Innovation Center at Kansas State University, spoke about the many strategies young farmers and ranchers can use to become profitable in the future.

"Success in business is maintaining your chosen lifestyle," Amanor-Boadu said. "If you don't like the results you're getting, get up and change what you are doing. Change is steady, random and chaotic, but you must embrace change in order to benefit from it." He theorized that successful leaders don't just manage change, but embrace it, and look for the benefits it brings.

"The business of agriculture is driven by the customers," Amanor-Boadu said. "You must think of them. They aren't the enemy." He then explained the characteristics of many of the generation groups that are consumers, such as Baby Boomers, Echo Boomers, and the like.

Baby Boomers, who will begin turning 60 years old this year, are most likely rich, educated, and still believe they are young. Not young at heart, he explained, but young in thought and deeds. Boomers will be the healthiest older generation ever, and that will cause ripples in all areas of the economy, from health care to food purchases.

Echo Boomers are the children of Baby Boomers, and there are about 80 million of them. The Echoes follow the rules, Amanor-Boadu said. They are tolerant, and a third of them are non-white. They grew up in a 500-channel universe and have no tolerance for advertising so agriculture has to find other ways of targeting its message to them.

"The kids make more decisions on what a family will eat," he added. "On average there are three different meals at one sitting." He said this is because the parents are often dieting and the children usually don't want the diet food. Over $170 billion a year is spent on food for this generation.

Now is the time for either larger farms to become larger and use the economics of scale to be successful, or for smaller farms to think in terms of niche markets and compete in the business arena on emotions of their consumers.

He gave the example of a turkey producer near Lindsborg who owned an average sized turkey farm. By working with the Innovation Center, he decided to raise Heritage Turkeys, which are more like the turkeys that early colonial settlers would have eaten for Thanksgiving.

The birds sell for a premium through an Internet business he set up. The farmer, Amanor-Boadu said, is making a living selling a story to the consumer along with the specialty turkey; they have a relationship to their dinner meal.

He advised producers to look at the returns on their investments in technology for the farm, and to drive down their costs whenever possible for success.

As he wrapped up the convention, Amanor-Boadu reminded those gathered there of the saying of comedian Chris Rock that there is a difference between being rich and being wealthy.

Rock's analogy to that statement is that professional basketball players are rich, but the men who sign their checks are wealthy, meaning that one can have lots of money, but if he or she doesn't manage it wisely they won't grow their riches into wealth.

"We want agriculturists to be wealthy individuals," he said. "We don't want our future ag leaders to be wealthy only when they are dead."

Jennifer M. Latzke can be reached by phone at 620-227-1807, or by e-mail at jlatzke@hpj.com.

Date: 2/23/06