Johanne Ross - Canadian Agriculture Hal of Fame

“No matter what career you’re looking at, we can connect it back to agriculture and food production.

Agriculture is moving so fast in terms of innovation that we can’t keep up. There is a labour shortage, big time, in agriculture—everywhere. On the farm and off the farm, past the farmgate; everywhere, we need people.

We have a big job ahead to inspire high-school aged kids to get curious about agriculture and food as a career option. Students want a job in science, technology, engineering and math, but they don’t necessarily think about agriculture in those core subject areas.

The biggest challenge we face is people not connected to food production are listening to information about where their food comes from that may not be accurate. We bring authentic conversations and experiences to the classroom so students and teachers can be empowered to be informed consumers who think critically before they make choices and decisions.

This is one reason I am so excited about the Prairie Innovation Centre! The state-of-the-art Centre will serve as a venue to help turn kids’ heads towards careers in agriculture and food. The first of its kind in Canada, right here in Western Manitoba, the Centre will go a long way to help connect science and other core subject areas back to agriculture.

The world is feeding 7.7 billion people now and 10 billion by 2050. There are exciting and dynamic jobs emerging in the agriculture and the food industry that we don’t even know about yet! We must foster meaningful connections to agriculture for young people that will inspire them. This will enhance the sector’s capacity to be more productive, innovative and stronger.

We need to get the Prairie Innovation Centre built to get young minds engaged and working for our industry and for our future.”

Assiniboine is proud to congratulate Johanne Ross on being inducted into the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame.

Ross is the Executive Director of Agriculture in the Classroom Canada, advocating for agriculture education at all grade levels and showcasing ag career opportunities to K-12 students.

The college is fortunate to have this remarkable champion of agriculture in our midst as a member of our Board of Governors and as the co-chair of Assiniboine’s Prairie Innovation Centre campaign.