Talk Your Walk Derek Sawyer
Friday, Jan. 30, 2009
Derek
Sawyer is the 2009 Young Farmers and Ranchers State
Chair. The following is Derek's speech to more
than 400 YF&R attendees at this year's state leaders
conference.
Welcome
to the 2009 Kansas Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers and
Ranchers Leadership conference. My name is Derek Sawyer
from McPherson. I represent the 7th district
and currently serve as chairman of the YF&R State
Committee. I am truly excited that each of you has left
your operations (on this beautiful weekend) to
fellowship with over 430 other young farmers and
ranchers from across this state.
Our
theme, 'Talk Your Walk,' centers around telling the
story of agriculture. Telling the story of our everyday
lives to an uneducated and sometimes misinformed general
public. It is said a picture is worth a thousand
words. In fact a professional photographer will tell
you they can relate the thoughts, feelings, and emotions
of the subject with one simple snapshot. They believe
with one good photograph, they can tell a whole story
about the subject in the viewer’s mind.
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As you view this old
black and white picture, can you see a story?
Can you tell what the 3 people are thinking of,
worrying about, dreaming of? As I look around I
can tell there are a wide variety of thoughts in
each of your heads. Some are thinking- that old
man really looks proud of his accomplishments.
Some are thinking- is that really a pen of
Hereford cattle? And yet others are thinking-
ahh… that is a really cute kid! And all this is
normal- for everyone to have a different
thought… a different story about the same black
and white photograph. In fact, if you were to
ask the three people in the picture, my
grandfather, my dad, and me… we would each have
different stories… different memories from the
same picture. |
Agriculture, as I see it, is a black and white picture
to an outsider. Our everyday lives in rural communities
are a snapshot in time, an untold story waiting for the
viewer to fill in the gaps with their own imaginations.
Do these viewers understand agriculture? Do they
understand us? Think back to your own operation. What
does your picture look like?
Is it a
picture of a beautiful small town main street, with
local businesses and flower pots on the corners? But in
reality, the city water system is failing or the school
walls are falling down.
Is it a
picture of two young children playing on the farm,
bottle feeding calves or growing a garden? But only
their parents know the only way to fully insure their
health is with an off the farm income.
Or is
it a picture of a heifer in labor on a cold winter’s
night. She is having trouble so you attach chains to
the calf’s feet and with a long pipe and pulley, procede
to pull the calf from inside her. Does an outsider
understand this is the only way to save both cow and
calf? Or is this a blatant case of animal cruelty?
We, as
young farmers and ranchers, must take every opportunity
to educate the general public about our livelihoods. We
must attempt to add some color to the snapshots of our
everyday lives.
Through
the hard work of your state young farmer and rancher
committee, this conference has been designed to educate
and motivate you, Farm Bureau members, to Talk Your
Walk. The workshops offered… from taking advantage of
Carbon Credits to initiating rural development will
focus on important topics that agriculture faces
everyday. Our keynote speaker, Jolene Brown, will
entertain you as we learn to Blaze new trails for
Agriculture. On Sunday morning, our wrap-up speaker,
Gracia Burnham, is a now a world known missionary who
will tell her own story of dedication and perseverance.
And of course we will have some fun with the Diamond W
Wranglers and some free time to meet and greet old and
new friends alike.
We had
a great start to the day with excellent participation in
the Grassroots and Marketing contests. The collegiate
Discussion Meet was, once again, very competitive with a
very knowledgeable group of contestants. And the
collegiate quiz bowl is taking great strides in its
second year and you will see the final round tomorrow.
I would
like to again thank our sponsor for this evenings
activities, Straub International. We have enjoyed each
other’s company for several years now and we are proud
to have them as an official sponsor. I would like to
thank every member of the state YF&R committee who, as I
said earlier, worked very hard to provide you with a fun
and informative conference. We will all be wearing our
blue committee shirts tomorrow- if you need anything we
will be more than happy to assist you.
I would
also like to thank each and every one of you for your
attendance at this year’s conference. I know it was
difficult to leave behind livestock operations or
children’s activities, but I can assure you the
opportunity to learn and get motivated about the future
of agriculture is right here, in Wichita Kansas, this
weekend. Add some color to your picture, tell your
story to a stranger, 'Talk Your Walk.'
Comments?
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