Steenbock Gains Experience at Agriculture Conference

A 2014 alumna of Heritage High School and the school's Future Farmers of America program was one of 50 participants from across the country to attend the National FFA New Century Farmer Conference in Johnston, Iowa earlier this summer.

Cassidy Steenbock was the first Heritage representative ever to attend the week-long conference. More than 250 people nationwide applied to attend the conference, which is designed for young people committed to pursuing a career in production agriculture.

Steenbock, who now attends Modesto Junior College, took part in a series of workshops on topics including the global marketplace, farm financing, demographic trends and risk management. A variety of speakers addressed the attendees.

Saying her goal is to become an agriculture education teacher and part-time farmer, Steenbock described her experience at the conference in an email to Menifee 24/7:

"On the first day of conference, we took a tour of Dupont Pioneer’s facility in Des Moines, Iowa. They hosted us for the entire conference week. We learned about their fully automated greenhouses and some very innovative technology that they are working on. On day 2, we toured Case IH’s facility and heard from several speakers about the new technology they are coming out with. They taught us a lot about soil compaction and how to measure soil water capacity in our fields.

"Day 3, we heard from a Northern California speaker named Paul Muller from Fullbelly Farms. He spoke to us about diversified organic farms and community supported agriculture projects that his farm is involved in. We also heard from another Californian named Brandon Souza who works for Ad Farm, which is a marketing group for agriculture businesses.

"On Day 4, we had a commodity organization panel, where we heard from a member of the pork board, the corn growers association, and a member of the beef board. They were there to answer our questions about the industries that we plan to go into. We heard from ADM and learned about agricultural commodity markets and how prices affect farmers. We also heard from Gary Matteson from the farm credit council. He taught us about taking risks and having self discipline on our farms.

"On the last day, we had a speaker who really hit home with his presentation. His name is Dr. Ron Hansen and he flew in to give us a speech on farm succession, which is a huge deal with agricultural families. Making sure the farm stays in the family is a big deal, but death in the family isn’t something people want to address. Dr. Hansen was very straightforward with his presentation. People have obstacles, fears, roadblocks, and challenges in their lives, but waiting until it's too late is never the right decision.

"By the end of his speech, everyone in the room was pretty emotional, but he taught us the most compared to the other speakers. I really hope they have him again at next year's conference, because although it isn’t what a lot of people wanted to hear, it's what they needed to hear.

"I attend Modesto Junior College and the agriculture program there is so great! I am going into my sophomore year this fall and I have taken 46 units of classes so far. This spring, I will graduate with three degrees: an AS in agriculture science, an AS in Animal Science and an AA in college preparation with an emphasis in agriculture science. Then I will continue on to Fresno State or Chico State, to pursue a degree in agriculture education."

Participants in the FFA New Century Farmer Conference pose for a group photo.