The number of days in a year pales in comparison to the number of mouths to feed in just one day. Multiply the world’s population – some 7 billion – by 365 and you’ll start to see the enormous responsibility of dairymen, farmers, ranchers and others who work in the agriculture industry.
In an effort to better educate people about the purposes and responsibility of agriculture, every year the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) promotes National Ag Day. In conjunction with the celebration, the group sponsors contests that not only offer scholarships to the winners but that allow participants to use their skills and talents to promote the industry.
Three contests were held this year: Essay, poster and video essay. Winners in each category receive $1,000 scholarships. You can view their work at the NAMA website.
Choosing winners in the different contests was not easy.
“It’s always difficult, there’s always a group of really bright, talented people,” said Jenny Picket, executive vice president and CEO. “The decision is always tough, especially the poster contest. We saw tons of good work this year.”
The national celebration of Ag Day will be held March 25 in Washington, D.C., while across the country events are planned locally.
“It definitely grows every year,” she said. “Ag Day is a celebration of agriculture, and we exist to promote a positive image of farmers and ranchers.”
Here’s a little more about the contest winners, their work, and how they plan to celebrate Ag Day:
Clara Knipp, 17
Written essay
When talking with 17-year-old Clara Knipp, you can’t help but smile knowing the future of agriculture is in good hands.
“I grew up on a small cattle farm, and have been around agriculture my whole life,” said this high school senior from Tipton, Missouri. “But when I got into FFA, I like to say that’s where my passion really developed. My advisers (Duane Melton and Gary Morris) got me motivated.”
Knipp won the written essay contest. “I am excited and feel honored, really,” she said. “I was looking for a contest to enter where I could write about my passion for ag, and I found the National Ag Day contest and decided to put forth my opinion on what agriculture is facing. I think it is facing a lot of opportunities as well as some problems. … All of the people who work in agriculture will eventually have to come together to find solutions.”
It’s a daunting task to feed a growing global population, she said, but so was humankind’s first journey to the moon.
After opening her essay with a recap of the 1969 Apollo mission, Knipp explains that today’s farmers face a challenge that, on an individual basis, may seem like a small step, but is in reality a giant leap for the whole world. “Farmers,” she writes, “face the challenge of feeding 7 billion people in 365 days. Although this task may seem daunting and near impossible, each individual involved in agriculture – whether they are a farmer, researcher or educator – contributes one small step in meeting the challenge of feeding the world.”
Knipp plans to attend the University of Missouri, where she’ll study ag education. Come March 25, she plans to celebrate National Ag Day in Washington D.C., where she’ll read her essay at the USDA office.
“I’m excited about that,” she said.
Brackston McKnight, 18
Video essay
Agriculture is important to Brackston McKnight of Gallatin, Texas, and he proves it by the many activities he participates in at home and school. For the past two years this Jacksonville High School senior has served as president of the local FFA chapter, his family has grown small gardens, and he manages his own greenhouse where he grows and sells plants of many varieties.
“We have to learn to utilize the resources we have to feed the world,” he said, reminiscing about Ag Day and the video essay contest he entered and won. “I think the main message is how important agriculture actually is to the world. It’s the basis for many parts of the economy and world. It started with civilization itself.”
McKnight said he believes those who work in agriculture need to stand as advocates of the industry, helping to educate others about its many important functions in feeding the world. His stop-motion video, which features figures in a Lego-created world, touches on the contest theme: “Agriculture: 365 Sunrises and 7 Billion Mouths to Feed.”
McKnight said he plans to do something ag-related on Ag Day, but doesn’t know what all that will entail. On that day, however, his video will be shown in Washington, D.C.
“We’ve been watching the video a little and hopefully we’ll be able to celebrate my winning and Ag Day itself at my high school,” he said. “I hope my video was able to get the message across, and I’d appreciate it if people would go and watch it.”
Brittany Plachecki, 22
Poster
Usually when Brittany Plachecki draws a picture, she spends more than 20 hours on it. That’s why it surprised her when she won first place in the poster category, which, unlike the other two contests, was open to college students. Her submission took her only five hours.
“I’m very lucky to have won,” the 22-year-old art student said. “I wasn’t expecting to hear anything back once I submitted it. It wasn’t my typical artwork.”
Plachecki, a senior at the Kansas City Art Institute, likes to draw human figures, but this was her first landscape. The poster depicts an Earth-sun rising above a field colored in green, orange and yellow.
“The design is meant to look like a quilt with the Earth as the sun in reference to feeding the entire world,” she said.
The toughest part creating the project was the lines before the poster was colored, she said. It looked mish-mashed to her, but once she colored it she liked it a lot better. The win has given her more confidence in her work.
Plachecki, a city girl whose only contact with farm living is when she visits her grandparents’ homes where her parents grew up, said she does not have any special plans for Ag Day except a date with school assignments.
“This is my last semester, so I don’t have a lot of spare time. I keep pretty busy,” she said. “I wish I was doing something for Ag Day; it’d be better than doing homework.” PD
PHOTOS
FIRST: Brittany Plachecki created this art that won first-place in the National Ag Day poster contest. Image courtesy of Brittany Plachecki.
SECOND: Photo courtesy of Clara Knipp.
THIRD: Photo courtesy of Brackston McKnight.
FOURTH: Photo courtesy of Brittany Plachecki.
