Around November or December, my teammates and I, as
well as Mr. Martin, went out to eat at the small Southern Comfort Cafe right in
the heart of the booming metropolis of Trafalgar. At this lunch was one of our
team’s weekly meetings, by the way they are usually at the State Officer house,
so going out to even this small cafe for lunch was pretty exciting. However,
something that was even more exciting was that this was the meeting where one
of us was going to be randomly drawn to go to Washington D.C. in March for
National Ag Day. So, all five of us put our names on a piece of paper and then
put that piece of paper in a hat to be drawn by Mr. Martin. Note, Jessica and
Chaela did not put their names in the hat due to the fact they had both already
been to D.C. for State Presidents conference in July. Then, Mr. Martin randomly
drew a name and low and behold the amazing outcome. The name on the piece of
paper was, “Nathan Blume.” I did find it quite fitting because I was the only
one out of the bunch that had never been to D.C.
Why exactly was I going to D.C. you might
be asking? Well, National Ag Day is a day that is recognized annually and a
day that has a great amount of value on the agricultural industry. A task force of youth and collegiate organizations such as 4-H, AFA, and FFA work
together to plan an event in Washington D.C. for several FFA members and
college students. The Indiana FFA Association was allotted one representative
to head out to D.C. for the event and I was the lucky one that got to fill the
spot. Now, to take you through my journey and the importance it played on
myself and those that make impacting decisions for the state of Indiana.
I had
to wake up extremely early on a Monday morning to catch the flight and head out
to D.C. Keep in mind, I had never ridden on an airplane before, so I was quite
a bit nervous. I did eventually make it through security and on to the plane
where I anxiously waited for takeoff. The flight lasted about an hour and a
half, having my eyes open for only ten of those minutes. Once we landed, I got
off the plane as quickly as I could and headed out into the airport, which was crazy.
Then came the difficult part, finding transportation. I decided that Uber was
the best way to go about getting around this crazy city. Uber is basically a
taxi, except you call for the vehicle using your phone and the driver is just
driving an everyday, normal car. After I got out of the Uber, which was quite
interesting for no reason besides it being odd that someone I had never met was driving me
around, I was in the National Mall. I had until early afternoon before I had to
be at the National 4-H center to begin the learning sessions. I took as much time
as I possibly could to walk around to all the monuments and see what the city
was all about. Let me tell you, I reached my 10,000-step goal very quickly that
day, as it is no jog in the park to see everything, but I saw just about every
major memorial in close proximity, including the white house.
After
my adventures of exploring the monuments and doing some sight-seeing, I had to
get another Uber to take me directly to the National 4-H center, where the
actual events of National Ag Day would commence. I got to the center, went to
my room, and headed to the main conference meeting place where the meeting
session was. There were FFA members, college students, and many others from all
over that were here for one common purpose, advocating for agriculture. That
truly is the purpose of National Ag Day, to advocate for the industry so many
of us hold near and dear to our hearts. Once in the room with everyone and
after getting to know those at my table, the advocating sessions began.
Basically, the reason myself and others were going through these sessions was
so we could get to know some Ag Issues and to craft a message that we were
going to deliver to our legislators. Everyone in that room was going to be
heading to Capitol Hill the next morning to speak to their senators and
representatives about agriculture and to
formally ask them for their support of the industry. Following the long
night of training and practicing the message I wanted to facilitate, I knew
that National Ag Day was going to be a success.
In
the morning, the day of National Ag Day, I loaded up onto a bus and we set out
for Capitol Hill. Once at Capitol Hill I teamed up with my fellow Hoosiers and
we set out to the visits we had scheduled for the day. Throughout the day,
myself as well as the others representing Indiana spoke to the legislative
assistants of Representatives Rokita, Brooks, and Walorski. We even got to
speak directly to Indiana’s two Senators, Senator Joe Donnelly and Senator Todd
Young. It really was a unique opportunity to speak as a voice of agriculture
and to facilitate a discussion regarding the importance agriculture holds and
why they should support it. I had the opportunity to advocate for agriculture
on National Ag Day and we all have that same opportunity every single day.
Agriculture
is something that is so important to everyone, especially those of us that work
within agriculture, support agriculture, and those that believe in its future.
Every single day, the general public, including the law makers are getting out
of touch with agriculture and the importance it plays within our country. So, I
encourage everyone to understand the
importance of advocating for agriculture and to do something about it.
Whether it be organizing an Ag Day event for the public, speaking with state
legislators, or just engaging in a conversation about agriculture with your
hair stylist, we have to advocate for agriculture. To all those reading this, be an Agvocate.
Striving to Agvocate,
State Treasurer,
Nathan Blume
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