FFA Week

 

China 6000 … America 0

FFA Week

Shovel Ready

By Stephen L. Wilmeth

 

`           It has been FFA week in America.

            The annual national convention has been ongoing at the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis. Thousands of young Americans clad in their national blue and corn gold uniforms have been showcased in the city as well as daily on RFD TV.

            Across the back of most of the attendees’ jackets is their chapter membership. Fewer yet have their state association designations. Only their national officer team has no lettering. Those six young leaders are elected by delegates to represent the national organization. The officer team includes a president, secretary, and vice presidents representing the central, southern, eastern, and western regions of the nation.

            The national FFA emblem, consisting of five symbols, is representative of the history, goals, and future of the organization. As a whole, the emblem covers the broad spectrum of FFA and agriculture. Each element within the emblem has unique significance. The cross section of an ear of corn represents unity. The rising sun signifies progress. The plow signifies labor and tillage of the soil. The eagle symbolizes freedom. The owl represents knowledge. The words agricultural education and the letters FFA are emblazoned in the center of the emblem to signify the combination of learning and leadership necessary for progressive agriculture. The emblem is attached to the front of the jacket just to the left of the wearer’s heart.

            Assuredly, the week and the experience will remain forever with those young Americans. It would serve the nation more if every American citizen could experience the same concentrated dose of hope, dreams, and vivid Americana.

            China 6000 … America 0

            It took America 62 years to build the same amount of interstate highway system that China has built in the eight years between 2011 and 2018.

            The number of miles built since then continues to be 6,000 miles per year in China and zero in America. Regardless of other comparisons that puts America in the trailing dust. The same thing, though, can be said about Chinese cities. A survey in 2013 suggested there were 200 new communities being built in that country’s provincial level administrative districts. That was just part of the construction explosion. There was suggestion that the country was building something over twice that amount across the expanse of outlying districts.

            Agriculture was also active.

            In the decades starting in the ‘70s, Chinese agriculture was changed from middle age technology to semblance of the world to be. Not trusting American meddling the country relied heavily on Canadian and Italian assistance in their march toward increased production. The Canadians led the effort of primary production, and the Italians provided the value-added infrastructure technology.

            A Canadian friend spent many years in China as a production advisor. Part of his time was spent in the Bohai Bay region of the country’s northeast. His expertise was in apples (he was a grower from the British Columbia Kelowna area). He recalled first seeing the big alluvial plain running from the mountains to the coast. It was largely void of any agriculture. Ten years later it was planted wall to wall with pome fruit and most of that was apples. What was once a country that didn’t produce as many apples as America now produces about 41M metric tons. American production comes in just under 6M metric tons or just shy of 14% of Chinese production.

            The same megatrends can be said about Chinese protein production within the categories of fish and swine. When the Chinese decide to address issues, they have acted.

            NEPA’s (legislated environmental assessments in America) are not required when decisions are made to act. American can’t get out of its own way.

            Shovel Ready

            So, here we are waiting with sweaty palms watching the democratic led, shovel ready infrastructure investment for America, the Biden Build Back Better jobs and economic plan.

            It appears the pending travesty is not going to be $3.5T, but rather an abbreviated $1.75T alternative. That would still build a fair amount of highways, bridges, water systems and sources, forest reclamation, irrigation efficiency, sky ways to the moon, energy from every corner, and jobs that would require American ingenuity with national blue and corn blue enthusiasm, but alas, there isn’t any physical infrastructure intended at least that which is defined in such dictionaries as Oxford English, Collins, Merriam-Webster, or even Black’s.

            The prizes that are stuffed in this turkey can only be defined as new age infrastructure.

            Rather than blinking American signposts which loudly proclaim we are going to lead the world to the first planetary expansion, we are going to be feeding candy to the ensconced Washington royal court and its legion of jesters. These characters are inviting the meek, the helpless and the run of the mill terrorists to our borders, discovering new and diverse pronouns, color coding math and English lessons, promoting X chromosomes to unmapped realms, and training environmental activists to represent the rights of our trees, rivers, and European honeybees. This country is going to determine the affects of climate change on pregnancies all the while killing babies and beagle puppies in the name of personal choices and science. There will even be a $5B environmental and climate slush fund for causes yet to be determined.

There is reason why tribulation is imminent and feared. We couldn’t build a thousand miles of new interstate highway if our existence depended on it.

            FFA Week

            FFA no longer implies Future Farmers of America, and, with that, there is regret. Like so much of our condition there has been too much urban and secular influence over all aspects of our lives.

            That needs to change.

            A challenge to the state associations might be to reassess what makes the organization foundationally important and lead the charge to a revitalized America with its own brand of infrastructure improvement, its membership. What is wrong with returning the acronym to Future Farmers of America? If that doesn’t work, the suggestion of Future for America might be adopted, but do something! Actions that can be closely associated with bureaucrats influenced the change and it has lingered without an acceptable reason ever since. It is time to start rebuilding America and Washington simply cannot be trusted to get that job done.

American agriculture through invested youth is the place to start.

             

            Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher from southern New Mexico. Our two daughters wore the blue and gold jackets that had California Association emblazoned across the back. Those who know the implication will understand the significance.