November Focus On Agri-Business For KYLA
Kosciusko Youth Leadership Academy held the November meeting at Chore-Time Brock in Milford. The theme for the session was agri-business in Kosciusko County.
Through an interactive learning game presented by Kelly Heckaman from the Purdue Extension, the students matched questions with answers to learn various statistics and the importance of agri-business here in Kosciusko County, as well as Indiana and across the world. Chore-Time Brock Engineering Manager Mark Dingeldein discussed leadership qualities, CTB’s history, and showed a video of a grain bin being built over an eight month period of time. He answered questions about their competition and the global presence of the company.
Janelle Deatsman, Communication Manager at Maple Leaf Farms, shared her passion for agriculture through a presentation which included company history and growth, product line, the importance of vertical integration and Maple Leaf’s farming and feeding process. She also educated the students about Maple Leaf’s Trident Stewardship Program which includes efforts regarding duck well-being, biosecurity, and natural resource conversation.
Kent Kleeman from quality assurance at Midwest Poultry showed a video about eggs farm to table journey starting with laying, through inspection, cleaning, quality, grading, size sorting, packaging and, finally, shipping. He discussed Midwest’s continual focus on safe quality food programs and closed with each table cracking an egg to examine while he shared facts regarding the shell, yolk and albumen.
The students learning agriculture is a complex field requiring engineers, scientists, manager, and planners are needed, along with updated technology. KYLA moderator Tony Cirello concluded the session by encouraging the students to consider their community project (Project Proud) by the next meeting in December.
For more information about KYLA, visit www.kylaleadership.org.