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Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Graceland hosts FFA at ag day
Pictured (L-R) are Graceland ag business professor Justin Akers, guest speakers Francis Thicke and Joel Salatin and Graceland ag business professor Max Pitt.
Nearly 150 students from 11 Iowa high school districts gathered at Graceland University in Lamoni Thursday, Nov. 8 to hear innovative farmer Joel Salatin, one of the most outspoken advocates in America on sustainable agricultural techniques.
Future Farmers of America (FFA) from around the region were hosted by faculty and volunteers of the university’s fast-growing Agricultural Business major. Besides hearing Salatin’s views, the students visited GU crop test plots, experienced the Lamoni Livestock Auction, learned about cattle-and-cornfield sustainability techniques and took part in team-building sessions so they could share their knowledge and learn from each other.
The high school students came from Lamoni, Leon, Mount Ayr, Bedford, Afton, Murray, Centerville, Truro, Chariton and Nodaway Valley. They had a chance to take a good look at Graceland’s facilities, meet faculty and ask questions of Salatin. Salatin was joined by Francis Thicke, an Iowa-based farmer, scientist and educator, for a panel discussion during the Agricul-tural Business event with the high school students.
Thicke and his family operate a sustainable dairy operation near Fairfield. Agricultural Business Professors Max Pitt and Justin Akers facilitated the panel, providing students and their FFA advisors the chance to interact with these two forward-thinking agricultural experts.
Salatin has predicted we will not be able to feed the world in the very near future unless we make simple, common-sense changes to how we treat our feeder animals, our crops and our land. Salatin and his family own and operate the 500-acre Polyface Farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley where their primary crop is grass.
Greatly simplifying PolyFace (the farm of many faces) goals, Salatin follows the patterns of nature, what he calls the circle of life. He moves his cattle herd daily to adjacent fields, using high-tech portable electric fencing. The cattle graze, they move, they graze, they move. The soil is enriched. The grasses are healthier. The cattle are healthier. The meat is better.
Salatin also spoke Thursday evening to a large group of first-year Graceland students as part of their First-Year-Experience classes. Salatin’s evening talk related to his latest book, “Folks This Ain’t Normal!” a discussion about how far removed we are from the simple, sustainable joy that comes from living close to the land and the people we love.
Salatin was brought to Graceland by funds provided by the C. Charles Jackson Foundation and the DEKKO Foundation, through efforts by Graceland’s sustainability group, led by coordinator Jennifer Abraham.
For more information about Graceland’s Agricultural Business major, contact Professor Pitt at 641-784-5438, or email maxpitt@graceland.edu.
Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, November of 2012
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