The AGvalanche

Excited.

That’s the word I used to describe my experience at the 2012 Texas 4-H Livestock Ambassador Advocacy Academy, where 26 young people passionate about animals learned skills they need to become agvocates for U.S. farmers and ranchers.

I, with ILF Catalysts Caro Black and Amy Dromgoole and other dedicated agriculturalists, presented on social media and blogging. I’m still figuring how I landed the gig, and in the meantime relish the memories of discussing agriculture with a future crop of leaders and followers.

Texas 4-H held the three-day event at Texas A&M University. Another similar academy was held at Texas Tech University. Which means more than 50 4-Hers from throughout Texas were involved in growing the AGvalanche.

Watch out, because the AGvalanche is racing down the mountain!

Making the academy happen—adding mass to the AGvalanche—was Madison County Extension Agent Billy Zanolini. I met Billy in November 2011 at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo while participating in AG4U, an event that exposed urban and rural high school students to a kind of agriculture that perhaps they never seen before.

And the advocate academy did the same. The 4-Hers were unfamiliar with the movement that currently stands up for U.S. agriculture (aka Agvocacy). Amy and I showed them pro- and anti-agriculture social media campaigns, hoping to open their minds about using Facebook and Twitter for other reasons than talking smack about each other or “creeping” cute boys’ and girls’ profiles.

We talked to them, gauged their knowledge of social media, and then led them into Cyberworld. They sure enjoyed PETA’s content, which is no surprise. When I say “enjoy” I mean, since the animal-rights extremists propaganda was new to the kids, it was funny to them, laughable, something of which they were unaware, because to them, how PETA and other animal-rights activists act is not, in their eyes, what a normal person thinks nor how a normal person acts (Normal = usual, typical, expected). We continued, they picked different topics, and we discussed the effects they might have on the livestock industry.

In addition to learning about social media, the 4-Hers listened to experts in food and fiber related fields: Assault on Animal Agriculture by Seth Terry, Texas Farm Bureau Associate Legislative Director; Drug Residue and Testing by Dr. Tam Garland, Head of Texas A&M Diagnostic Toxicology and Drug Lab, Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; Experiential Learning Reflection by Dr. John Rayfield, A&M Assistant Professor of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications.

And they listened to U.S. Pipelines TransCanada Senior Communications Rep David Dodson, who spoke about ways to reason with the unreasonable. A&M Meat Science Assistant Professor Dr. Matt Taylor gave a microbiology demonstration. A&M Agrilife Associate Vice Chancellor Dr. Larry Boleman spoke about the history of livestock showing and how it relates to youth development. Finally, A&M Philosophy Professor Dr. Stephen Daniels asked a tough question: Is it moral to produce animals for food?

I left many, many experts out of my description of the learning moments these kids had. Of all experiences, however, Dr. Daniels seemed to strike an ethical chord within the kids’ hearts. He challenged their assumptions about animals, something the kids never truly had to face. Many of them were left stuttering and reaching for reasons that were nowhere near evidence for their beliefs.

The point, Billy expressed to the kids during the wrap-up on the last day, was that they were questioned by someone who held another perspective on U.S. animal agriculture. Dr. Daniels eats meat, and he is morally okay with humans raising animals for food production, but he gave the kids what they needed—a dose of reality.

Adios Compadres,

Anthony

Anthony Pannone is an ILF Board Member and an agricultural leadership, education, and communications graduate student at Texas A&M University. He snowboards ahead of avalanches because he rides hard and fast. Friend him on Facebook. Tweet him @agrospheric. Watch his YouTube videos. Subscribe to his digital papers, Food Feature, Sport Slugfest, and Mainstream Mission. Send anthony@ilovefarmers.org your story and he’ll share it.