A8
AG DAY
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, March 20, 2019
FFA program prepares students for future
Ag organization
connects students
to their roots in
agriculture
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
With experts predict-
ing more than 9 billion hun-
gry mouths on the planet by
2050, the need for skilled
and knowledgeable agricul-
tural workers armed with the
latest ideas and technologies
is more important than ever
before.
The world will need
workers trained in precision
agriculture, “ranching and
farming by the inch,” Adam
Ineck told the Eagle.
Raised on a row-crop
farm in southwest Idaho
that produced corn, alfalfa
and commercial beef cattle,
Ineck is the ag ed teacher at
Grant Union Junior-Senior
High School.
He has a bachelor of sci-
ence in agriculture educa-
Grant Union FFA chapter members surround the 1,100 pounds
of nonperishable food donated through the Oregon FFA and
Les Schwab Tire Centers “Drive Away Hunger” campaign.
From left are Raney Anderson, Kori Jo Girvin, Jessie Stubbs,
Logan Namitz, Cole Ashley, Celine Hicks, Mariah Kerr, Cinch
Anderson, Parker Manitsas, Emilie Updegrave, Sierra Cates,
Billy Radinovich and Ellie Justice.
tion from the University of
Idaho and is pursuing a mas-
ter’s in agriculture education
through Oregon State Uni-
versity. He’s been an ag ed
teacher and FFA advisor for
the past 15 years.
“I often tell people I’m a
farmer by birth, teacher by
trade and an agriculturist by
choice,” he said.
We are proud to be a part of Grant
County’s Agricultural Community
High-tech farming
Evolving
agricultural
technologies include drones,
thermal imagery, precision
planting and robotics. But
a recent survey by the Land
O’Lakes Foundation found
that only 3 percent of sur-
veyed college graduates
said they had considered a
career in agriculture.
Contributed photos
Attending the National FFA Convention & Expo are, from
left, Grant Union Career Coordinator Kristi Moore, FFA
adviser Adam Ineck, FFA members Cinch Anderson, Emilie
Updegrave, Ellie Justice, Parker Manitsas, Kori Jo Girvin,
Hailey Carter and chaperones Jennifer Carter and Cori
Anderson.
According to Purdue
University, the 34,500 new
graduates with expertise in
food, agriculture, renew-
able natural resources
and environmental issues
will fi ll just 61 percent of
the 57,900 job openings
expected annually. Ineck
hopes to help address that
need by exposing high
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Proud Sponsor of National Ag Day
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school students to the diver-
sity of the “natural resource,
food and fi ber system.”
“It’s more than cows,
plows and sows,” he said.
His goal is to prepare
students for their next step,
whether it’s a two- or four-
year college or heading off
straight to work. His classes
and the FFA program are
laying the groundwork for
the problem-solvers of the
future.
Ag workers will need
to understand how to use
pedometers and GPS to track
individual cows on a cell-
phone app, and what types
of crops and soils work best
with precision drip irriga-
tion, Ineck said. This drive
for effi ciency generates
numerous opportunities for
students who go into agri-
culture, he said.
Agricultural productivity
has dramatically increased
in just the past half century.
The average amount of milk
produced per cow increased
from 5,314 pounds per year
in 1950 to 18,201, the aver-
age yield of corn rose from
39 bushels per acre to 153
and each farmer produced
on average 12 times as much
farm output per hour in 2000
as a farmer in 1950.
In 1870, about half the
people in the U.S. were
employed in agriculture.
Today it’s less than 2 per-
cent. Americans today are
two or three generations
removed from a life on the
family farm, Ineck said.
“I’m trying to reconnect
them to their sources,” he
said.
The
FFA
program
became a national organi-
zation in 1928 when it was
known as Future Farmers
of America. The name was
changed to the National FFA
Organization in 1988 and
is now commonly referred
to as FFA, with more than
669,000 members in more
than 8,600 chapters guided
by more than 13,000 agri-
culture educators.
The FFA experience
Ellie Justice, a junior
at Grant Union, lives on
a small farm outside Prai-
rie City that raises nurs-
ery plants. Her family hear-
kens back to homesteading
days on her father’s side and
a grandfather on her moth-
er’s side who came to Grant
County and got into logging.
Justice said she’s been
involved in 4-H since ele-
mentary school and has
raised sheep, chickens, beef
cows and crickets. The latter
See FFA, Page A9
107658
Family Owned for 35 Years
Providing Grant County with feed and farm supplies for
its agricultural industry.
311 N Canyon City Blvd, Canyon City 541-575-2050
3850 10th St., Baker City
86812 Christmas Valley Hwy., Christmas Valley
541-523-6377
541-523-6377
1160 S Egan, Burns
62302 Pierce Rd., La Grande
541-573-6377
541-963-6577
J OHN D AY
Join us in
celebrating
National Ag
Day!
NAPA
IS PROUD TO SPONSOR
E ASTERN O REGON ’ S
A GRICULTURE B USINESS .
W E HAVE BEEN HELPING KEEP FARM
& RANCH EQUIPMENT RUNNING
SMOOTHLY SINCE 1966.
721 W Main • John Day • 541-575-1850
110114