GRAND FORKS, N.D. - The 20- and 30-somethings sat on one side of the room. Folks with graying and thinning hair sat on the other. Perry Aasness, standing in the front of the room, looked at the younger group and said, "Part of your job is to be able to tell your story."
Aasness, executive director of the Minnesota AgriGrowth Council, which represents farm groups and ag processors in the state, spoke Wednesday, Dec. 13, at the "Ag Peer Group Meeting - Investing in Agriculture's Future: Discussions for the Next Generation of Farmers and Ag Professionals." The meeting was held during the Prairie Grains Conference in Grand Forks, N.D.
"It's important to provide information to the younger generation to deal with the challenges they'll be facing in the future. And those of you who are older can listen to what they have to say and learn from them," said Dave Torgerson, executive director of the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers, which helped to organize both the Ag Peer Group Meeting and the Prairie Grains Conference.
The annual two-day conference, which began Wednesday, is expected to draw about 900 people. The event, organized by seven Minnesota and North Dakota farm groups, offers sessions of general interest to agriculturists, as well as presentations geared specifically to wheat, barley, soybean and canola producers.
Other speakers at the Ag Peer Group Meeting were Bruce Klevin, Minnesota legislative strategist for several state ag groups, and Riley Maanum with Northwest Minnesota Farm Bureau.
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They and Aasness examined the challenges that Minnesota agriculture, including young ag professionals, face now and likely will continue to face for the foreseeable future.
Minnesota's large and politically powerful Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Statistical Area may be the biggest challenge for agriculture in the state, officials said.
Klevin noted how urban and rural residents often have very different perspectives and how that can affect state laws and regulations. For example, many urban residents - concerned about how roadside haying affects vegetation and pollinators - supported restrictions on haying ditches in the state. Rural residents, in contrast, generally opposed the restrictions, pointing to reduced hay quality.
Klevin, asked how agriculture can influence metro residents, answered, "How do we reach the urban folks? What do we do about them? That is probably our million-dollar-question."
Making a personal connection - through telling their story and raising the level of trust - appears to be sound strategy, ag officials say.
Tate Petry, a 24-year-old Ada, Minn., farmer who attended the meeting, said he's increasingly convinced that connecting with non-farmers on a personal level is the best approach.
"If we talk about educating consumers, it can sound condescending. Engaging is better," Petry said.
Survey says
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A 2016 survey of Minnesota residents, conducted by a coalition of state ag groups, contained both pluses and minuses for state agriculture, Aasness said.
One of the pluses: Roughly 80 percent of the respondents had a very positive or somewhat positive view of farmers.
One of the negatives: Groups that are critical of mainstream agriculture have widespread support, too.
Overall, "There's a lot of noise going on in the food space," Aasness said.
That makes personal connections with consumers even more important for agriculture, he said.
A blizzard held down attendance on the first day of the 2016 Prairie Grains Conference. Though icy roads and highways were a concern this year, weather and driving conditions generally were much better.
The conference resumes at 7 a.m. Thursday.
More information: www.smallgrains.org .
