GROWMARK Iowa 2020 Essay Contest Winner


Farmer of the Future
by Kanyon Huntington, East Union FFA Chapter, Afton, Iowa

In our ever-changing world, who will be the farmers of the future and what will they look like? I believe the farmer of the future will be a technologically-advanced worker who will partner with organizations like our local cooperatives and work toward providing high-quality, sustainable products as the world’s population grows. Each morning as I tend to my sheep herd I find myself contemplating what the future has to offer and how we will adapt to the changing agriculture industry.

While food production will be a constant in agriculture, I believe that research and development will dramatically increase as we continue into the future. In fact, almost one in every eight people suffer from chronic hunger. Increasing agricultural yields and the availability of food will be essential in tackling this issue. With our current technologies we can delay some of the hunger, but our increasing population and income growth place downward pressure on the supply. The agricultural industry will need to put more of the workforce into research as we look to create new innovations to meet the demand. These jobs will encompass a wide range of activities and innovations from yield potentials to improved management techniques for fisheries. The growing trend of research and development could also add more job opportunities in the industry, helping employ those willing to work and provide for those who need it.

As we look to provide food for a growing population, we need to focus on areas that can help increase food production such as biotechnology, soil health, and other areas key to promoting sustainable agriculture. Further research in the field of biotechnology can help farmers produce crops with higher yields and adaptable environmental genetics as we try to produce more on less land. The agricultural industry can also use biotechnology to be environmentally safe as we look to decrease any sort of environmental damage while also supporting effective production. Such ideals will allow us to focus on sustainable agriculture, which is defined as the goal of meeting society’s needs for food, textiles, fuel, etc… without compromising the ability of future generations as they look to provide for themselves.

Meeting society’s needs in the future will involve more than just the farmer; I believe that more partnerships will develop through cooperatives and consumers. Cooperatives, such as GROWMARK, will be essential in providing farmers and the industry with the necessary tools. At the moment, GROWMARK is already helping farmers in a wide variety of areas that can range from agronomy to logistics. I believe these cooperatives will also be essential in helping heal age-old misconceptions between producers and consumers in the agricultural industry.

In the future, the lives of farmers will certainly change as we look to solve the issue of world hunger. This may occur through research and development, the use of biotechnology and other agriscience areas, or even through important partnerships. While the future is unpredictable, we can certainly prepare the industry as we all think about the goals of our future.