The breakout sessions for 2020 WCFA are listed below:
You can also download the sessions and descriptions here:
| Topic | Session Title | Company | Session Description |
| Ag Business | Corn to Starch to Cream – Just for Me!! | Tate & Lyle | Tate & Lyle is getting ready to launch into personal care/cosmetics with a new line of starch products. Learn about the basics of starches for non-food applications. You can find starches in the world outside the food space (that most people never really recognize) and how we work with them. Let’s focus on the personal care application as you make your own lotion/gel/cream to take home using starch from Tate & Lyle. |
| Ag Communication | Ag Storytelling Through Photography | Holly Birch Photography | Visually walk through a typical photoshoot with Holly and learn what tools, tricks, and standards she uses to create a complete and varied gallery for each client. |
| Ag Communication | Beyond the Herd: Engaging with Consumers About Agriculture | Illinois Farm Bureau | The future of agriculture will be shaped by improved farming methods, breakthroughs in plant breeding, the development of more sophisticated technology, and politics and regulation, but consumers will be one of the biggest influences in how we raise crops and livestock. In this session, we’ll learn more about how to communicate and engage with agriculture’s No. 1 customer. |
| Ag Communication | Inner City Agriculture Exchange | Taylorville High School | Taylorville High School conducts an exchange with the Chicago High School of Agriculture Sciences. All junior high school students answer basic agriculture questions to compare knowledge on various areas of agriculture. Students also made a two day visit to see the school and how they operate on a daily basis. |
| Ag Communication | Sharing Your Story of Agriculture | This Farm Girl Cooks | Women have a special role that allows us to connect with others and share our knowledge of agriculture in an approachable, easy to understand way. Learn how you can use social media and blog platforms to share your story of agriculture with mainstream America and beyond. You may be surprised at what the world doesn’t know – yet! |
| Ag Communication | Speak Up! Sharing Your Ag Story | GROWMARK | Ever wondered how to get the word out about your chapter’s events? This session will cover the basics of newswriting and give you practical tips for getting your chapter in the news! |
| Ag Equipment & Technology | Drones in Agriculture | Parkland College | Learn about how drones are being used within the agriculture industry and try your skills at flying one! |
| Ag Equipment & Technology | We’re for Groundbreakers | John Deere | Come learn how John Deere builds machinery from the ground up and how people just like you make it happen! |
| Ag Equipment & Technology | What is Ag Tech and how can software help farmers? | Granular, Inc. | In this session, we’ll discuss Ag Tech as a general industry, narrowing in a little more on the software arm of the industry. Learn how you can make an impact in agriculture working for a tech company and how Granular is helping farmers make better business decisions. |
| College/Career Prep | Acing the Ag Interview | Nutrien Ag Solutions | As a young woman entering the agriculture industry, the interview room can be an intimidating place. This workshop will provide styling and resume advice as well as practical tips you can implement to successfully navigate an interview in a male-dominated industry. |
| College/Career Prep | All About Animal Sciences | University of Illinois Animal Sciences | Join us for a discussion and activity about the different opportunities in Animal Sciences. We will not only discuss vet med and a variety of different career paths in animal sciences but also do a hands-on animal science activity. |
| College/Career Prep | An Education, a Career, a Movement: Understanding Opportunities in Metropolitan Food Systems | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | Feeding the world’s future population in a fashion that sustainably promotes environmental and human health is the most pressing problem facing the planet and its inhabitants. In response to this challenge, local food systems have become a fast-emerging sector of agriculture in major metropolitan areas. This creates a demand for professionals that understand the science and practice of food production, processing, and security across urban environmental, economic, and social contexts, while maintaining environmental sustainability. In this session, we will discuss the STEM-based knowledge, communication skills, and leadership abilities that are needed to become a logical and critical agricultural thought leader that takes a systems-level approach to decision making. We will then discuss how your educational experiences can lead you into a career that allows you to be a part of a movement to create resiliency within our food system. |
| College/Career Prep | Building Your Own Personal Brand in Agriculture | ADM | A personal brand is a widely-recognized perception or impression of an individual based upon their experience, expertise, competencies, actions and/or achievements within a community or industry. How do you build, maintain, and market your own powerful personal brand? Come join us for a session on learning how to “brand” yourself. |
| College/Career Prep | Owning Your First Impression | Economic Development Corporation of Decatur-Macon County | Stressed about how to dress for a job interview? Pondering how a decision you make today could impact future opportunities? Join us for a session to learn how to turn heads the right way with employers, college recruiters, or influencers. |
| Environment & Conservation | Agroforestry: Plant Trees, Make Money, Save the Earth | Savanna Institute | Join farmer and educator Kaitie Adams to learn how agroforestry is being adapted by young farmers faster than any other agricultural practice. This seession will focus how planting trees for fruit, nut, timber, and livestock production can help grow stable farm businesses, support local economies, protect and conserve farmland, and actively fight climate change. |
| Environment & Conservation | Animal Facility Engineering | Maurer-Stutz, Inc. | Learn about agricultural engineering, animal facility design, and manure management! Participate in a hands on activity calculation manure production volumes and sizing a manure storage. |
| Environment & Conservation | Help People Help the Land! | USDA-NRCS | Engineering the landscape…what does it take to do this? Learn how to use your own pace and eye height to estimate how far and how high things are. Then participate in a challenge: see if you can win the prize! Find out how these basic types of measurements help the professionals in natural resources conservation help people improve their land. The simple tools you learn in this workshop will help you the rest of your life! |
| Environment & Conservation | Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! Careers in Wildlife Conservation | University of Illinois Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Sciences | Are you thinking of a career working with animals? Wondering about options beyond being a vet? This is the session for you! Learn about careers in wildlife conservation and practice some of the techniques used to study wildlife. |
| Environment & Conservation | Water Quality and Hydroponics | University of Illinois | Come learn about the importance of water quality in hydroponic systems. Then compare hydroponic systems to more traditional production methods. |
| Livestock | Farrowing Management | The Maschhoffs | I will be covering what the day to day is like for a farrowing unit lead along with the variety of skill sets needed in the roll. |
