Entrepreneurship, like so much of American history, began on our nation's farms. From the moment the first ancestors planted a seed, watered it and waited for its bountiful harvest, the need for food has inspired generations of farmers to create, innovate and grow business ventures. From Eli Whitney's famous Cotton Gin in 1793 to John Deere and his Steel plow in 1837, America's farmers have long been stalwarts of entrepreneurship, experimentation and innovation. After all, no other activity do we engage in as regularly, as feeding ourselves. It is thanks to these past innovators that today few people in this country go hungry.
Last year, I had the opportunity to deliver the keynote speech at the West Virginia Small Farms Conference on the important role farmers played in the history of entrepreneurship. However, somewhere, along the way, our farmers have lost their entrepreneurial footing, but it doesn't have to be that way. We have the opportunity to change with the next generation of farmers, inspiring and teaching them that farms can be productive, rewarding and profitable career paths.
In order to encourage and help develop our next generation of farmer entrepreneurs, we need to enhance the way we teach agriculture. Rural school systems need to introduce farming entrepreneurship programs in high schools, but we need to go beyond just entrepreneurship programs. After all, programs like 4H and the Future Farmers of America have been encouraging entrepreneurship from the beginning with programs for students to raise, show and sell livestock at shows around the country.
To add to the already significant body of agricultural education, we need to include a technology component, which will ensure the development of our future food sources. Our future farmers and farms will look nothing like they do today. Without significant education in high technology, programming and access to high-speed internet access in rural communities, we are hamstringing our next generation of farmers.
The future of farming will rely heavily on Agriculture Technologies (AgTech), or the innovative combination of agricultural practices and technology. Future AgTech solutions will be designed to encourage rapid problem-solving be it unmanned aerial vehicles (drone) that automatically deploys to inspect a cow that has not eaten for four hours or for innovative sensors for water management, soil readings, or food traceability, all these devices and ones yet unknowable will need to be developed so that we will be able to feed future Americans and the world.
According to a report from the World Wildlife Foundation:
"Over the next 40 years, land, energy, water, and weather constraints will place unprecedented pressure on mankind's ability to access its most basic goods-- food, fuel, and fiber. Humanity must now produce more food in the next four decades than we have in the last 8,000 years of agriculture combined. And we must do so sustainably." ("The 2050 Criteria," World Wildlife Fund)
The need for AgTech is an imperative if we are to feed ourselves in the future, according to a report from the Kauffman Foundation:
"There is limited opportunity to expand the land used in agricultural production, and agriculture also must deal with environmental risks such as climate change. To succeed in sustainably increasing food production, major innovations in AgTech are required that increase agricultural productivity and improve the efficiency and resiliency of the entire food system."
To develop these innovations, we need to provide proper educational opportunities and resources to today's teachers who teach and inspire tomorrow's farmers. AgTech has the ability to draw the next generation of American entrepreneurs and pioneers back into farming and agriculture as a career. As a profession, farming has statistically been on the decline - attracting fewer and fewer new farmers to the field. As a result, the landscape of America's farm and the innovation has inevitably become stagnant. However, incorporating a more technological approach and more focused farming systems can attract a generation of problem-solvers who are comfortable incorporating technology into the industry.
In order to combat this trend and inspire greater innovation in AgTech, as the Entrepreneur-In-Residence and professor at Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College in rural West Virginia, we partnered with the Robert C. Bryd Institute for Flexible Manufacturing, Potomac State College and the West Virginia National Guard to hold West Virginia's first Agricultural Innovation Summit in one the state's most agricultural regions. This event brought together over 300 high school students, educators, public policy makers, funders and entrepreneurs to explore and inspire opportunities to create the next generation of farming technology. Attendees were introduced to 3D printing, Ag drones, virtual welding and other technologies that will be a requisite on tomorrow's farms.
AgTech has the unique ability to combine new technology with the traditional farming practices, creating greener, more productive and sustainable farms while at the same time creating a healthier society and new jobs. However, in order to meet the needs of those future jobs and our food needs, we need to ensure our educators are well equipped not to teach just sound agricultural practices but also on the application of technology to create healthier, more productive and sustainable farming practices.
As the Farm-To-Table movement continues to grow and people have a greater need to know where their food is coming from so shall the opportunity grow for the application of technology to farming practices. Meeting tomorrow's food needs, however, will require greater educational investment and public, private and corporate resources. The next Lucien B. Smith, inventor of the barbed wire in 1867, or George Washington Carver "godfather of the peanut" is sitting in today's classrooms. We have an obligation that he or she has the skills, tools, education and Internet access to become the entrepreneur farmer of tomorrow.