The Future Farmers of America

These are the faces of the future farmers of America. Yes, they may be young, but they already have a passion for Ag that is bigger than the sky. Blake is 7 and Bryce is 11, they are our neighbors and they live on a farm as well. On their farm they raise crops but they do not have any livestock. Bryce has a Holstein bucket calf named Buster, but other than that they don't get to be around cattle very much. Bryce and Blake just LOVE cows and enjoy the opportunity to get to be around them. They come over to our house every so often and tag along with Adam as he is doing chores and checking cows. This afternoon Adam took them over to see the new baby calves and then they came back over to our house to see the steers and heifers.

Blake and Bryce posing for a picture as they climb

over the fence.

The boys trekking through the mud as they

check out the steers in the pen.

Adam warming up to the steer so the boys can pet it.

Bryce letting the steer smell his hand.

Bryce petting the steer.

Blake getting close enough to pet the steer.

Blake petting one of the steers.

Blake and Bryce watching the silage come down

from the conveyor belt.

Bryce and Blake watching the silage come out

of the Harvestore silo.

The boys leveling out the silage in the wagon.

The boys looking on as Adam finishes filling the wagon.

Bryce and Blake are from an Ag background, but raising cattle is an aspect of Agriculture they are not exposed to everyday. They ask a lot of questions and we enjoy answering them. We also enjoy the opportunity to teach them about cattle and this part of our farming operation. It amazes me how interested Bryce and Blake are about raising livestock. They absolutely love the cows and seeing the baby calves. It is great to see this passion in someone so young, and the fact they would rather be outside messing with cows instead of inside playing a computer game.

I hope Adam and I are passing on our passion of raising cattle by sharing this part of our operation with them. We hope Bryce and Blake keep their love for cattle and Agriculture as they grow up because they are the future of the industry. Their passion and excitement for cattle and Ag is contagious and it makes us want to share what we do with everyone. Bryce and Blake are the future farmers of America. As long as they keep up their passion and curious spirit for Ag, then I'm not worried one bit about where the future of our industry is headed.