USDA Launches New Website for New Farmers and Ranchers

Farmers work hard. They work to produce food that will eventually be on our dinner plate, while dealing with unpredictable weather, long hours and countless risks. New farmers face more obstacles with starting their operations with acquiring land, equipment and capital as well as learning about regulations and insurance policies.

With these new challenges, the U.S. Department of Agriculture hopes to guide the next generation of farmers for their future careers. As FFA members are also preparing to be future leaders in the industry, USDA’s New Farmers website could be used as a valuable resource.

2013 New Century Farmer Conference Starts July 14 in Des Moines

Fifty students have been selected to attend the National FFA Organization’s 2013 New Century Farmer Conference July 14-20 in Des Moines, Iowa.

FFA members selected for this year’s conference represent 23 U.S. states:The conference helps prepare FFA members committed to careers in production agriculture by providing them specialized training in entrepreneurial leadership, practical knowledge, vision, global perspective and personal growth.

 ALABAMA: Brady Peek of Elkmont

CALIFORNIA: Thomas Fantozzi of Patterson, Jeffrey Quaglino of Arroyo Grande and Lauren Friend of Tulare

COLORADO: Preston Talbert of Wray

DELAWARE: Jake Jones of Milford

FLORIDA: Andrew Land of Live Oak

Only one week left to apply for New Century Farmer!

Watch this video to see some highlights from last year’s New Century Farmer conference.

In today’s global economy, farming is an exciting, fast-paced, and high-tech career. The New Century Farmer conference helps college students develop their careers in production agriculture by providing them with an opportunity to advance their:

• Entrepreneurial leadership skills
• Practical knowledge
• Visioning
• Global perspective
• Personal growth

There’s only one week left to apply for this amazing opportunity! Application are due on Friday, March 15.

Go to www.ffa.org/ncf to find out how to apply.

The New Century Farmer conference is sponsored by DuPont Pioneer, Case IH, CSX Corporation, and Farm Credit with media partner Successful Farming, as a special project of the National FFA Foundation.

Calling all New Century Farmers!

Are you a college student who is pursuing a career in the exciting, high-tech and fast-paced field of production agriculture?

Apply to attend the 2013 New Century Farmer Conference for the chance to advance your skills and knowledge!
Fifty selected students will receive an all-expense paid trip to Des Moines, Iowa, where they will network with industry experts, attend workshops and session, participate in industry tours, and so much more.

Applications are due on Friday, March 15th at 5p.m. EST.

Please review the FAQ prior to beginning the application process.

If you have any questions please contact Lindsey Calhoun at lcalhoun@ffa.org or 317-802-4263.

The New Century Farmer conference is sponsored by Pioneer – A Dupont Company, Case IH, CSX Corporation, and Farm Credit with media partner Successful Farming, as a special project of the National FFA Foundation.

New Century Farmer – Day 5

After a week of listening to amazing speakers, touring agricultural facilities in Iowa, and interacting with future leaders of the agricultural industry, the New Century Farmer conference came to a close. The potential of the students who attended this year’s conference was phenomenal. Fifty young agriculturalists representing twenty four states came together with the same passions and interests to plan for the future of their operations. During their time in Des Moines, the students also created a vision for their operations. Their visions encompassed how they plan to succeed in the industry as the demand for agricultural products continues to increase. The knowledge gained at the New Century Farmer conference planted a seed for all the participants, which will challenge them to grow and be successful as emerging leaders in the agricultural industry.

New Century Farmer – Day Three

This week, students attending the New Century Farmer conference will be blogging about the lessons they’re learning and the friends they’re making there. The conference is taking place on the Pioneer campus in Des Moines, Iowa.  Topics covered include the global agricultural marketplace, farm financing, demographic trends and risk management. 

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To start off the third day of the New Century Farmer conference, we heard from Matt Erickson who spoke with us about the importance of the Farm Bill, Budgeting, and Risk Management. As the next generation’s producers of the world’s food, fuel, fiber, and natural resources we need to educate ourselves about the policies and financial status of our government and how it directly affects us and our farming operations.  Further, we explored the significance of becoming involved with sharing our story with legislators and taking charge of our own financial decisions.

New Century Farmer – Day Two

This week, students attending the New Century Farmer conference will be blogging about the lessons they’re learning and the friends they’re making there. The conference is taking place on the Pioneer campus in Des Moines, Iowa.  Topics covered include the global agricultural marketplace, farm financing, demographic trends and risk management. 

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On Tuesday, July 10, we kicked off the day by visiting commodity groups, both crop and livestock based. During the livestock tour, Corey Geiger from Hoard’s Dairyman and Jeff Muchow from Iowa Premium Beef shared many points about  trends and issues in the beef and dairy industries.

On the crop commodity tours, we engaged with the Iowa Soybean Association and the Iowa Corn Growers.  Our discussions ranged from global communication and trade efforts to issues facing beginning family farmers transitioning from one generation to the next.

Peter Woltz of Timber Ridge Cattle Co. shared his knowledge of marketing and niche marketing from the standpoint of his own flax-fed beef cattle operation. From Peter, we learned that we have to think outside of the box for new opportunities and enterprises.  We must realize that our enterprises may take us down many avenues and that we must keep an open mind to expansion or alternate avenues.

The highlight of the day was having the privilege of touring the research plots, labs, and state of the art greenhouses at Pioneer Hi-Bred International. We gained valuable insight into what goes into the crop development phase to make our hybrids as vigorous as possible. It was very clear that research and customer satisfaction are Pioneer’s leading priorities. Their dedication to the American and global consumer will continue to allow them to make strides in yield innovation. Their support of this program is invaluable!

The theme of today at NCF was “Planting the seed for your vision!” We took some time out of the day to work on the first draft of our visions, and what we foresee for our operations in the future.  It was a very eye opening experience to take a look at the foundations of our operations and think about what it is currently and what we would like to see it become.

Once again, we wrapped up the day with “Ag in a Bag.” We each brought 5-6 significant items that uniquely defined us and shared these with the group. This allowed us to gain a slight glimpse into the present, and as we hear each others visions near the end of the week, we may get to share in each others passions and excitement for the future of our operations!

~Chelsea McFarland – Kentucky

~Nathan Sahr- Minnesota

~Seth Menefee- New Mexico

The New Century Farmer program is sponsored by Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business; Case IH; CSX Corporation; and Farm Credit; with media partner Successful Farming as a special project of the National FFA Foundation. The program is designed to provide participants with valuable skills and knowledge applicable to their own farming operations. In addition, they will build a network of colleagues that will benefit them throughout their careers.

New Century Farmer Conference – Day One

This week, students attending the New Century Farmer conference will be blogging about the lessons they’re learning and the friends they’re making there. The conference is taking place on the Pioneer campus in Des Moines, Iowa.  Topics covered include the global agricultural marketplace, farm financing, demographic trends and risk management. 

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We began the morning bright and early by traveling to Pioneer where we had the opportunity to hear from Dr. David Kohl. He was a very energetic speaker who was full of  valuable information. First he spoke of our “Swiss cheese economy” which is related, connected, and dependent on every other country in the world to prosper.

Then, he talked about the  importance of setting goals. He said that 80 percent of all people have no goals, 16 percent have mental goals (those that are not written down), and the remaining 4 percent have goals that are written down. The 16 percent who have mental goals  will encounter profits three times higher than those without goals. The elite 4 percent with goals written down will make nine times more than those without goals. He encouraged us all to set our own goals in order to become successful.

Next, Dr. Kohl gave us a list of things to watch for in global economics to help  us market our own commodities and make  our operations  more profitable.

He ended his presentation by giving us ten golden rules that we can use in our operations. These rules varied from business and profit rules, to employee management, to setting our missions and goals.

One thing Dr. Kohl said made a particular impression on the group: “Better is better before bigger is better.”  That really hit home, and helped us start thinking about the directions we could take our own operations in and still be profitable.