 Poise, originality, value of content,
voice control, physical presence, delivery,
development…all are criteria used to judge the Young
Speakers for Agriculture competition, June 23, 2007, at
the Red River Exhibition in Winnipeg.
Speakers as young as 11, from all across the country,
deliver wellcrafted speeches for judges in their home
provinces, hoping to be chosen as representatives in the
national competition. The annual event helps young
people in the agriculture industry develop their public
speaking and presentation skills and strengthens the
agriculture industry by creating future spokespeople.
Competitors choose from five topics and must prepare a
five to seven minute speech for the judges at their
provincial competitions.
To choose Manitoba’s 2007 representatives, five
competitors, their families, three judges and others
gathered at the main stage at the Red River Exhibition
early in the summer. This year’s senior competition
featured Michael Alty, Paige Junkin and Jolene Hodgins;
the junior competition featured Evan Beilby and Blythe
Junkin.
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All five competitors wowed the audience with their facts,
arguments and delivery, but it was two sisters from a farm
family near Eriksdale who took first place in both the senior
and junior competitions. Paige and Blythe Junkin presented their
speeches with a confidence and composure beyond their years and
will be representing Manitoba at the 2007 national competition
at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto on November 3.
Paige chose Buying Local – a Long-term Trend or Short-term Fad
as her topic. “It is very close to home for me,” says Paige. “I
have started my own cattle herd and the question of buying
locally or not is very important to my success and the success
of all farmers.”
 During her speech, Paige asked the audience to think about the
future of rural towns and communities. “If buying local becomes
a short-term fad, we will witness the erosion of small towns and
communities.”
Blythe feels as strongly as Paige about managing the future of
Manitoba agriculture and agriculture in general, saying farmers
need to step up to the plate and fight back. She chose Then and
Now – an Evolving Canadian Farmer as her topic and used her own
family as an example. Blythe described how the face of the
Canadian farmer has already evolved from her grandfather to her
mother and father to her own.
“I am a farmer,” she said proudly as she described how hers is
the face of, what she hopes, is a new direction for farming – a
direction that includes less gender-specific roles in farm
families and more sharing of duties, both in the home and on the
farm.
The Young Speakers for Agriculture competition continues to grow
and gain recognition, giving passionate young industry members
like Paige and Blythe an outlet to voice their opinions on the
issues that are important to them. If young people all over the
country are as excited and motivated about agriculture as the
Junkin girls are, the prospect of a prosperous future is sure to
be realized.
As Paige says: “Agriculture must continue, it feeds the world.”
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