Clueless consumers motivate agriculture educators to reach more students

"There are a lot of misconceptions out there about agriculture and the work that happens on farms every day," said Valerie Earley, who grew up on a farm near Wycoff, Minn., and is finishing up a term as a national officer for FFA, an agriculture education organization with about 10,500 Minnesota members. "People just don't have experience on a farm and don't have a connection to a farmer," said Earley, who has traveled around the country for the past year to represent FFA.