Ducks Unlimited Gears up for National FFA Conference

Agriculture-focused youth are natural partners

Ducks Unlimited will be on-hand at the national FFA convention in Louisville, Kentucky, Oct. 28-31 to celebrate its ties to the agricultural community and encourage youth participation in conservation.

“These youth are the future of farming and conservation in America,” DU CEO Dale Hall said. “Farmers grow more than food for other people. They also provide food resources and habitat for waterfowl and other wildlife, serve as stewards for most of the nation’s land, and safeguard our water resources.”

DU has a long history of working with private landowners to improve habitat on working lands. In the Prairie Pothole Region, DU works with ranchers to protect grasslands and wetlands and promotes planting winter wheat, a crop that benefits farmers’ bottom line and nesting waterfowl. In other parts of the country, rice producers provide significant habitat for wintering waterfowl. DU works with them to increase farm profitability and efficiency and maximize waterfowl benefits on their lands.

The USA Rice Federation and Ducks Unlimited formed the Rice Stewardship Partnership in 2013 to bring the strength of the two organizations together on behalf of rice producers across the country. All three rice-growing regions of the United States – the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV), Gulf Coast and California’s Central Valley– overlap directly with the continent’s most important waterfowl wintering grounds.

“The FFA convention is a perfect place for Ducks Unlimited to demonstrate our commitment to conservation on working lands and to promote our youth programs,” Ducks Unlimited National Youth & Education Coordinator Mark Horobetz said. “We want these students to know they can make a difference today for the future of waterfowl and working lands conservation.”

DU is committed to growing its high school and college volunteer chapters and events to engage and educate youth regarding conservation.

“These kids are already interested in conservation and have clearly demonstrated engagement and leadership skills. They make perfect recruits for DU’s Varsity and University Chapters,” Horobetz said.

Contact

Andi Cooper
(601) 956-1936
acooper@ducks.org
@DUSouthernNews

Ducks Unlimited

Ducks Unlimited is the world's leader in wetlands and waterfowl conservation. DU got its start in 1937 during the Dust Bowl when North America’s drought-plagued waterfowl populations had plunged to unprecedented lows. Determined not to sit idly by as the continent’s waterfowl dwindled beyond recovery, a small group of sportsmen joined together to form an organization that became known as Ducks Unlimited. Its mission: habitat conservation. Thanks to decades of abiding by that single mission, Ducks Unlimited is now the world’s largest and most effective private waterfowl and wetlands conservation organization. DU is able to multilaterally deliver its work through a series of partnerships with private individuals, landowners, agencies, scientific communities and other entities.