By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com
The Canadian Young Speakers for Agriculture (CYSA) completion deadline for applicants is September 30. With less than 3 percent of Canada’s population working as farmers – hard working primary producers, it has become increasingly more important to be an advocate for the industry. The CYSA competition provides young people ages 11-24 who are passionate about agriculture and farming the opportunity to share their passion while cultivating public speaking skills.
The competition is an annual event that is held in conjunction with the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto. The event began in 1985 and has since been providing young people across Canada with the opportunity to have a forum where they can share their ideas, concerns and passion about the agriculture industry. There are two categories - a junior division (ages 11-15) and a senior division (ages 16-24) and each contestant is to prepare a five to seven minute speech on one of the five predetermined agriculture related topics. The following are this year’s topics:
•Does supply management belong in Canadian agriculture?
•A national food policy: challenges and opportunities for Canada
•The main things people need to know about farming today are …
•Here are farmers’ biggest opportunities
•The importance of water for agriculture and globalization
The registration fee for the junior competition is $20.00 and $40 for the senior competition. For more information about the competition and how to register can be found at http://www.cysa-joca.ca/core/
Last year's winning speeches: