| ’Tis the season to serve and think about your future in the ag industry |
FFA IS AN ORGANIZATION that revolves around service. One act of service that many FFA chapters in Polk County participated in recently was the Great American Teach-In.
Frostproof FFA invited the Florida Forest Service to visit their ag program on November 19 to speak about their career with the forestry industry. Kathleen FFA and Haines City FFA both visited local elementary schools to speak about the FFA organization and agriculture.
Haines City visited both Bethune Academy and Dundee Elementary Academy. Members of Haines City FFA spoke with young students about the different job opportunities in the agricultural field, such as ag education, poultry production, citrus industry, rabbit production, veterinarian, swine production, and cattle production. The students were also able to see different tools used by large animal veterinarians, as well as proper care for large animals and show techniques.
Speaking of careers in the agriculture field, have any of you high school seniors checked out any colleges with agricultural majors? Did you know that Warner University in Lake Wales has an agriculture studies major now? With the New Year fast approaching, many college applications and scholarship applications are due. Many colleges actually offer incentives for students majoring in agriculture; Wilmington College in Ohio is one of them.
There are also a lot of scholarships for agriculture majors. The Polk County Cattle Women Association gives out a scholarship every year for students going into the agriculture field. The national FFA organization offers multiple scholarships to all FFA graduating seniors. For more information and for ways to apply for scholarships, go to:
https://www.ffa.org/programs/grantsandscholarships/scholarships/Pages/default.aspx
Do you ever wish you could bring your horse or heifer to school with you? Well, at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC), located on a beautiful piece of property in the middle of Tifton, Georgia, you can! The agriculture college has a barn that allows students to bring their large animals and board them. ABAC offers multiple ag majors, such as agriculture engineering, ag business, animal science, and more.
One thing about agriculture careers, you will always have job security; you are always going to need agriculturists! Remember, no farmers, no food! By the way, don’t forget to thank a farmer!
CREDIT
article by ABBY CRAWFORD
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Abby Crawford is president of the Haines City High School FFA chapter and the voice behind 97 Country’s segment, “Ag Time with Abby,” which airs the first Friday of every month during the “Breakfast Club with Roger and Melissa.” Abby is also the 2014 Polk County Farm Bureau Youth Speech Contest winner. For questions, FFA news, or FFA story ideas, email Abby at abbigailreis@gmail.com.
