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NewsJanuary 10, 1991

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The agriculture business in the United States now offers more challenges to young people who plan to pursue a career in it, but it also offers more opportunities, agriculture leaders say. About 150 high schools students from around the state attended a "Greenhand Motivational Conference" held Wednesday at Southeast Missouri State University. The conference was sponsored by the Future Farmers of America...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The agriculture business in the United States now offers more challenges to young people who plan to pursue a career in it, but it also offers more opportunities, agriculture leaders say.

About 150 high schools students from around the state attended a "Greenhand Motivational Conference" held Wednesday at Southeast Missouri State University. The conference was sponsored by the Future Farmers of America.

The students were all first-year members in the organization.

"Our purpose is to get them to set some goals, not just in FFA, but in life," said FFA national President Mark Timm, of Filmore, Ind., and a student at Purdue University.

Timm and five other national officers of the organization led the conference, which is also being held at six other universities around the state.

Timm said that 22 percent of the nation's work force is in some field of agriculture, yet only 2 percent of those people are in farming. The organizations helps students interested not only in farming, but in agri-business, agri-marketing and computers used in agriculture, he said.

"Statistics say that 30 percent of these kids will be entering jobs not yet created," Timm said. "The agriculture business is expanding that rapidly."

And students involved in the organization don't all reside down on the farm.

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"I'll never deny that the backbone of the organization is production agriculture," he said. "But a large majority of these kids don't actually live on farms."

Stephanie Gable, of Jackson, is the Missouri state secretary of the organization. The former president of the Jackson High School chapter, Gable is now a freshman at the University of Missouri. She is majoring in animal science with a minor in communications, and hopes to become a veterinarian.

She was elected to the state office in April.

Gable said though agriculture has faced some hard times, the way to overcome those obstacles is through education.

She said she plans to stay with the organization until she's 21, the mandatory age of "retirement" from FFA.

"I want to get my American Farmer degree, which is the highest degree in FFA," she said. She has already obtained a State Farmer degree, the second highest honor.

The conference was sponsored by MFA Inc. and Mid-American Dairymen Inc.

The conference will also be held at Central Missouri State University, Northeast Missouri State, University of Missouri-Rolla, Southwest Missouri State and Missouri Western State College.

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