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A snapshot of the next generation of young men and women realizing their dreams of becoming full- or part-time farmers reveals challenging opportunities. Some young farmers, like Hank Huffman – a 25-year-old farmer from rural eastern North Carolina – have gleaned great experiences from the generations of farmers before them. Hank, bolstered by the experience and wisdom imparted to him by his father, grandfather, and great grandfather, is now making his mark on the field of agriculture. He is a fourth-generation farmer growing corn and soybeans, and producing poultry and cattle on 130 acres. Born and bred on the pride and encouragement of the Future Farmers of America, better known as the National FFA Organization, he is living his “American Dream.”

You may be familiar with Paul Harvey’s “So God Made a Farmer” speech that he delivered to the FFA Convention in November 1978. What he said then still rings true today. He describes the hard work and sacrifices as well as the gentle family spirit and sense of community that farmers and ranchers have provided from generation to generation across our great country. Farmers and ranchers are the backbone of America, working from sun-up to sundown, taking care of the land and livestock and providing food for their fellow citizens and the rest of the world.

On February 22-23, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) hosted the 94^th Annual Agricultural Outlook Forum (AOF), welcoming hundreds of current and rising agricultural leaders. The event brought together public and private stakeholders to discuss key issues in U.S. agriculture. Among those representing the future of American agriculture were this year’s USDA Student Diversity Program winners, students from the Virginia chapter of the National FFA Organization, and students from the 1994 Tribal Colleges and Universities. These special guests shared their impressions of the event.

Every month, USDA shares the story of a woman in agriculture who is leading the industry and helping other women succeed along the way. This month, we hear from Valerie Earley, 2016-2017 National FFA Central Region Vice President. In April 2017, Valerie was invited by President Donald Trump and USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue to participate in a “Farmers Roundtable” at the White House to address issues facing the American agriculture community, as the president signed an Executive Order establishing an Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity.

Every month, USDA shares the story of a woman in agriculture who is leading the industry and helping other women succeed along the way. This month, we hear from Hanna Lisenbe, a high schooler from Texas with a passion for 4-H, FFA, Student Government, and Junior Student Council. Hanna exhibits lambs, goats, and swine and participated in the Texas 4-H Ambassador Program. She completed her ambassadorship by participating in the Livestock Ambassador Short Course, Advocacy Academy, Legislative session at the Capitol in Austin, and was selected to travel to Argentina and Uruguay for the Ambassador International Experience. Hanna was recently awarded the 2017 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Scholarship. After graduating from high school, she hopes to pursue a degree in Veterinary Medicine from Texas A&M University.

Did you know that NASA has a mini veggie farm at the International Space Station that grows lettuce? Every day, ground-breaking scientific research is taking place to improve food production practices in order to feed people on Earth and in space.

Earlier this week in USDA’s People's Garden, local 4-H and FFA students gathered to plant sister seeds to lettuce grown on the International Space Station, which will be harvested in about a month. By getting their hands dirty, students were able to ask questions about what it takes to grow food under a variety of conditions. This is particularly important as our nation’s farmers and ranchers look to feed a growing world population.

To wrap up our Women’s Week blog series, we hear from Onelisa Garza, a current college senior at Texas A&M University, Kingsville who was raised in the small town of Linn, Texas. Onelisa has been very active in organizations like 4-H and FFA her whole life and has held many leadership positions through them. She discusses how she discovered that she wanted to dedicate her career to helping others understand the importance of agriculture.  Onelisa has been in many agriculture science classes where the other students had never seen cattle in real life or a field of cotton – things that she always took for granted growing up. She will graduate in December of 2015 and plans to use her agriculture degree to become a County Extension Agent for 4-H Youth and Development.

Today in our Women’s Week blog series, we feature Tyra Jonas, a college freshman from the small town of Ravenna, Michigan where the smell of pickles and cheering from the football stadium isn’t uncommon. She is a freshman at Michigan State University studying agricultural communications. She currently serves as the Michigan FFA State Reporter and travels across Michigan to help members build their knowledge on agriculture and leadership qualities and tour many agriculture industries.

As a native Georgian, it is always a treat to go back home and see what’s happening on my family farm as well as the farms of my neighbors. Today I had the pleasure of meeting Jean Oliver, a dedicated mother, daughter and cattle farmer. She recently received a microloan from the Farm Service Agency to help build her operation. Within the next 10 years, Jean plans to make the leap from working 9-to-5 as a counselor with the Cook County school system to living off of her family’s 200-year-old farm, raising and selling cattle.

Here is her story:

At 16, Lakota Roberson has a lot of responsibility. The high school sophomore works two jobs, runs her own business, handles a full course load of classes and cares for 54 animals that she considers to be her children. By senior year she hopes to grow her animal family to 100.

Lakota, who starts her days off at 5:30 a.m. on weekends and 6 a.m. on weekdays admits, “I don’t have much down time, but when I do, I sleep.” Her first chore of the day, of course, is to take care of her animals. They consist of 40 ewes, 10 goats and four rams.

“It started out as a hobby, now it’s my job,” said Lakota. “But I love it.”