Agricultural Education is so important for our world. Agricultural Education involves more than just teaching students the basics of seed production or how to judge livestock. It provides the opportunity for people to understand that agriculture is not just farming; it’s a sustainable way of life. If we don’t have Ag Education, we will have many uneducated people in the world.
Ag Education is made up of three components; Classroom (classes offered in the middle school or high school), FFA, and SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience). The reason for these three components is to allow middle school and high school students to take what is 
learned in the classroom and apply that knowledge and skills in their FFA chapter and then to actually apply them to their own life in a real-world setting through an internship like program known as SAE. A student’s SAE can be a business that the student either works at by being hired or they may choose to become entrepreneurs and develop their own business. These three components begin to mold young people into adults that are able to function and succeed in today’s society.
Many students in local schools may never have a career related to agriculture, but the skills they learn from Ag Education are easily applied to any career that they choose. Skills in interviewing, public speaking, welding, and the ability to think for themselves are all skills that are learned and encouraged in local Ag Education programs but can be used in any setting of their life, agriculture or not. Whether you come from a farm, or have spent your entire life in the city, everyone is welcomed and will fit right into the curriculum and pur
pose of Ag Education. I believe everyone should take at least one agricultural class. If anything else, students are better able to respect and understand the agricultural industry that feeds them, clothes them, and also helps their local economy.
With a rapidly increasing population and a demand to feed 9.6 billion people by the year 2050, the agriculture industry needs talented, and passionate youth willing to make a commitment to agriculture. Many of these individuals will not have the production background that some have grown up in. They must learn this knowledge and understand the depth of the industry. This is best accomplished through middle school and high school agricultural education classes, where students have the opportunity to learn and develop the skills necessary for us to remain world leaders in agriculture.
Ag Education is so important because it provides many opportunities for students grow and develop their leadership abilities. Through Ag Education, students gain a greater knowledge for the agricultural industry to where they can advocate and inform the public. Students who take an ag class in middle school or high school may not choose a career in agriculture but can apply the skills they learn in the ag classroom to any career they choose.
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-Sara
h Thomas, Kansas Raised in a Barn Representative
Raised in a Barn 