On July 8, 2024, Olds College of Agriculture & Technology hosted the Alberta Young Speakers for Agriculture’s (AYSA) preliminary judging round for their public speaking competition. The competition was held in the Werklund Agriculture and Technology Centre and started at 10 a.m. to allow all 11 participants to speak.
This is the fourth year that Olds College has hosted the event, but the first year as a preliminary round. AYSA’s newest partnership with the Calgary Stampede allowed for two preliminary rounds, one at Olds College and the other at the Stampede grounds on July 12. The top five qualifiers from each preliminary round will be continuing on at the final championship competition which will be hosted by the Calgary Stampede on July 13.
The College was honoured to once again host the competition, and help uplift the young voices of agriculture. This event allows all attendees to witness some truly gifted and passionate young speakers that are inspirations for the future of agriculture. Participants were allowed to choose one of the following topics and speak for 5 to 7 minutes:
If you are the federal Minister of Agriculture, what are your top five priorities?
How can lessons learned on the farm translate into life lessons?
Farming the future: How will technology, robotics and AI change the face of agriculture?
The gap between the urban and rural continues to grow. How can the agriculture sector bridge the knowledge gap to better inform their urban neighbours about conventional agricultural practices?
Taking over the family farm: How can today's young farmers talk to their parents and grandparents about becoming more involved in the family farm?
In addition to sharing their passion for agriculture, this event is an excellent way for the participants to gain valuable communications and leadership skills while competing for prizes! For the senior preliminary rounds, cash bursaries of $200 were awarded for those finishing 1st to 5th place, and $100 for those finishing 6th to 10th place. The junior preliminary rounds offered cash bursaries of $150 for those finishing 1st to 5th place, and $100 for those finishing 6th to 10th place.
We wish the best for Lexi Sande, Jordynn Rogers, Emma Cross, Raelynn Sande, Ryley Glaiser, Pyper Stanley and Nora Johnson who will be competing on the last day of the Calgary Stampede for the title and incredible prizes. The final prizes for the senior competition includes $6,000 between the top six participants and the junior competition top six will receive $2,650 divided between them all. Plus the winners of each category will receive an all-expenses paid trip to Toronto next November to compete in the 2024 Canadian Young Speakers for Agriculture Finals in November.