AgWired

Typically farmers don’t take a city bus or elevated train to the fields each day. But Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences isn’t your typical farm.

Every year as many as 1,500 prospective students apply for 150 spots at the far south side magnet school, and the lucky few who are chosen travel long distances to be a part of school that is producing some of the top, young Ag minds in the U.S.

“Our students have a unique opportunity, that no other students in the city of Chicago have,” said Lucille Shaw, head FFA advisor at the school.

Members of the IFMA17 congress also had a unique opportunity Tuesday afternoon to tour CHSAS, which sits on a 72-acre plot of land just down the street from another of the city’s public schools, Chicago Morgan Park.

For all intensive purposes CHSAS is a fully functioning farm, while teaching its students traditional subjects like math and history. Included on the campus is a barn for pigs, goats and horses, a fish farm and of course midwestern staple crops like corn and soybeans. There is also a machine shop for students to fix machinery and a large hive of bees, where the students harvest honey and sell it, along with other items produced by students in a small store in front of the school.

“I think this school gives kids an opportunity to be exposed to something they otherwise would not have,” Shaw said. “It was an untapped resource, especially by minorities, for so many years.”

Before spending a few hours at CHSAS, the IFMA17 members gathered for a tour of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, where agricultural products such as corn, wheat and pork bellies are traded on the open market.

The group arrived in time to see the CME open at 9:30 a.m., to watch buyers and sellers go to work in the “pits.”

“I don’t know what to think of it,” said Heiko Zeller, a German student from the University of Applied Sciences in Eberswalde. “There’s a lot of money being made out there, but it seems a little crazy.”

Stops were also made at Millennium Park, a large vegetative outdoor area that sits in the shadow of the newly named Willis (Sears) Tower, and a lunch at the University of Illinois’ Illini Room, just a few blocks form the park.

“It’s an amazing use of a public space,” said University of Queensland senior lecturer Don Cameron said of Millennium. “You could just come here and relax with nature in the middle of the city.”

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Instead of traveling to 26 different countries to hear about the deregulation of South African dairy farmers or the sustainable practices of farms set in the Blue Ridge Mountains, IFMA 17 delegates can simply travel across the street to breakout sessions on the Illinois State University campus.

With several broad categories to choose from, ranging from farm management to marketing and trade, delegates are guaranteed to find a topic that sparks their interest or match their specialization.

Different academic voices present their papers for 20 minutes. There were a total of 39 presentations on Monday afternoon.

If interested in hearing one of 33 more global agriculture discussions, attend the IFMA 17 Congress on Wednesday afternoon at Illinois State University.

Bloomington, Ill. is only the second U.S. city to host this event in the Congress’ 38 year history. For a review of the complete itinerary, visit: http://imfa17.org.

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Populations are growing, diets are becoming healthier, land and water rights are being cracked down upon and the consumption of food is doubling as the years progress forward becomes, “The need for and acceptance of biotechnology in feeding a hungry world.”

Kevin Eblen, of the Monsanto Company, set the stage for his presentation Monday with a video that talks about the commitment of sustainability. Sustainability is defined as development that meets the needs of the present with out compromising the ability of future generations.

People’s lives are changing daily, with 70 percent of water being used by people and farmers and trying to develop better seeds by 2030. Things are going to have to change in the present to be sustainable for the future. Monsanto Company is trying its best to keep up with these demands of better seeds through biotechnology.

Monsanto as a company is trying to increase cotton yields, with better seeds, almost doubling production by 2030. On average per year, the company invests $1 billion to breeding and harvesting techniques, agronomic practices and biotechnology. In funding these techniques, farmers can reap the benefits of having higher yield and more money to give back to the community. On a global level the “US is expanding corn yields at four times the rate of the European Union.” Everything is the same in the European Union, except for biotechnology. Biotechnology is the way to go for a better yield, but in the future, conserving more is going to be of great importance.

Conservation is a key issue with regard to new farming techniques. In 1995, Monsanto created the first weed and insect free corn. The next is a climate resistant corn. People question these new corn seeds that could change planting techniques. Within this new seed corn, water consumption will decline and land can be used for other purposes for the increasing population. If the farmer stays with biotechnology corn, the added net income will be increased by $ 33.8 billion.

Farmers and residents alike are going to have to partner up to think about the benefits of the future and understand that change is necessary for the survival of future generations.

Normal, Ill. is only the second U.S. city to host this event in the Congress’ 38-year history. IFMA runs from July19-24.

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