They’re young, they’re smart and they’re passionate. And this past Saturday afternoon, they were strutting their stuff as finalists in the Canadian Young Speakers for Agriculture competition at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto.

These six presenters spoke to an assembled crowd in the fair’s cafe on everything from unsung heros of agriculture, what they would do if they were Minister of Agriculture for a day, buying local, farming in the future and why they’re contemplating a career in agriculture.

The competition was tough – I speak from first hand experience on this as I was one of the three judges in the final round, but in the end, a young lady from Stouffville, Ontario was crowned the winner. Cindy Schickedanz, a fourth year animal science major at the University of Guelph, spoke about the unsung heros of agriculture, lauding the achievements of such pioneers as John Deere, Louis Pasteur and Norman Borlaug, as well as honoring farmers.

Finishing second was Laura Szigatti from Simcoe, Ontario who spoke eloquently about encouraging consumers to support Canadian agriculture by buying local.

Rounding out the top three was Rosie Templeton, a Grade 12 student from Coaldale, Alberta who explained why she was planning to choose a career in agriculture.

The other finalists in the competition were Christine Zettler of Teeswater, Ontario; Kristy Waalderbos of Amherst, Nova Scotia and Erin Harris of Lister, British Columbia.

To be eligible to compete, participants must be between 11 – 15 years of age for the junior category and 16-24 for the senior competition, and complete a five to seven minute speech on one of several agricultural topics in either English or French.

This year marked the 25th anniversary of the Canadian Young Speakers for Agriculture program and many past winners and competitors were present to help mark the occasion.