Ag education important to today's youth

Sep 30, 2022

It was a big night for the Yorkton Mill Heritage Society as it held its annual fundraising dinner.

Not only was it a night for a full house to hear guest speaker Sara Shymko talk about the importance or teaching agriculture in the classroom, but two major donations were announced.

Grain Millers has taken naming rights on the planned interpretative centre at the old mill for a donation of $100,000, and Ernie Aniuk has made a donation in a similar amount.

The dual donation push mill fundraising efforts past $1 million, about one-third of the amount the project will need.

In her presentation Shymko, who is executive director of Agriculture in the Classroom, said the interpretive centre can be an important local spot in terms of offering education to students about farming.

Shymko said teaching the history of farming connects directly to the history on Saskatchewan and “it matters.

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Video: Why Invest in Canada’s Seed Future? | On The Brink: Episode 3

Darcy Unger just invested millions to build a brand-new seed plant on his farm in Stonewall, Manitoba so when it’s time for his sons to take over, they have the tools they need to succeed.

Right now, 95% of the genetics they’ll be growing come from Canadian plant breeders.

That number matters.

When fusarium hit Western Canada in the late 90s, it was Canadian breeders who responded, because they understood Canadian conditions. That ability to react quickly to what’s happening on Canadian farms is exactly what’s at risk when breeding programs lose funding.

For farmers like Darcy, who have made generational investments based on the assumption that better genetics will keep coming, the stakes are direct and personal.

We’re on the brink of decisions that will shape our agricultural future for not only our generation, but also the ones to come.

What direction will we choose?

On The Brink is a year-long video series traveling across Canada to meet the researchers, breeders, farmers, seed companies, and policymakers shaping the future of Canadian plant breeding. Each week, a new story. Each story, a piece of the bigger picture.

Episode 3 is above. Follow Seed World Canada to catch every episode, and tell us: Do you think the next generation will have the tools they need to success when they takeover? How is the future going to look?