The promotions sub-committee of your AFBF YF&R committee has just returned from the 81st National FFA Convention and what a busy week it was! There were around 50,000 FFA members in attendance and the air in Indianapolis was electric with excitement.

We spend a lot of time on this blog talking about the importance of telling the story of agriculture and what are the most effective ways of doing it. It's easy to get down when we are working hard to stand up for our industry and it seems there is someone around every corner ready to knock down those of us that have the responsibility of feeding this nation and the world. But while I was at the FFA Convention, none of those thoughts came to mind. These FFA members are excited about being involved in an agricultural organzation and spending time promoting their organization, communities, and industry. A speaker at the general session that we attended told the members that they would have to produce twice as much food as their parents are. There is no doubt these young agriculturalists will meet this challenge head on with enthusiasm and conviction

The next time you hear that kids today aren't interested in agriculture, don't want to work hard, or any other kind of nonsense like that, take them to a county 4-H show or FFA meeting. They will feel re-invigorated like I do right now and know that our industry will be in great hands.