Palmer FFA meets with Senators, looks to future of agriculture

Alaska Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski recently welcomed Arkansas Senator John Boozman to the state, who was visiting Alaska as part of a tour to gather input from local farmers and others in the Ag community before returning to Washington D.C. to work on the 2023 Farm Bill.

During their visit, the Senators met with members of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) from Palmer High School, led by teacher Corinne Henderson.

“In Alaska, we only have 4 true Agricultural teachers and that’s one of the things we were talking with the senators about. We want to expand agricultural education throughout the state so we can get our youth to be the new farmers and help with food security,” said Henderson.

It was something Senator Boozman, the senior ranking member of the Agriculture Nutrition and Forestry Committee in the Senate, also touched on during his visit, explaining that the average age of farmers is 58 and that there has been a decline in farming communities for several years.

“We need to add more tools into the toolbox, expand things such as broadband and very low cost loans, make programs more accessible for the future, for agriculture to expand.”

FFA Member Jakob Bergey said that in addition to entering the education field, he would like to get into a business that is agricultural. He also believes that CTE programs like the Ag program at Palmer should be made available before students enter high school.

“I think in middle school, we should have a field trip at the beginning of the school year and again at the end, show them this is planting and then come back and show them harvesting that same field.”

Fellow FFA Member Elijah Morris also has an agriculture career in mind, looking to a future working with animals.

“I want to be a veterinarian that supports farmers. Big animals and small animals. I’ve loved animals since I was little and hate seeing them in pain, and make it more accessible and support farmers with it would be really cool,” he says.

Henderson is proud that both young men have this in mind for their futures and credits their focus on the Ag Program and classes they are taking.

“He didn’t have this vision before he took Vet Science and it became a passion. So that’s just evidence that classrooms that enhance our agriculture and FFA program can spark something.”

“Before FFA, I didn’t want to do very much of anything in life. I had no plan. Now I actually have some sort of a plan,” says Morris, a high school sophomore, who says he was put into the Ag program by random choice after transferring to Palmer High School in the middle of the school year.

“I was thrown into Vet Science class because, in my counselor’s words, it would be an easier class for me to catch up on, and just like that, I really got into it.”

Bergey believes that programs such as the Ag programs should start much earlier, perhaps starting as early as Elementary Schools.

“Agriculture is so embedded into our history that it needs to be taught throughout all of the schools. With the average of farmers getting older, it would be easy to get them excited.” Bergey also points to the example of teaching younger students a foreign language, which they often have a better chance of learning and becoming fluent as they continue.

“It’s easier to teach little kids a foreign language because their minds are still developing. So if you introduced subjects earlier, it’s more likely to stick with them longer than middle school or high school.”

“It also piques their interest, they’re much younger and more energized about things,” adds Morris.

Bergey said that when his counselor saw his last name, and knew he might be headed into agricultural.

“My dad’s a farmer, so it’s already in me.”

Henderson is appreciative that the senators were able to make time to speak to the FFA and really listen to what agriculture looks like in Palmer.

“Palmer FFA is very thankful for the Senators’ support. I know that they have really supported Alaskan agriculture and that they were really interested and supported meeting with us. They asked for the opportunity, so that was amazing to see their support, not only for Alaska, but for our youth.”