The 34th Canadian Young Speakers for Agriculture (CYSA) competition welcomed 39 competitors, aged 11 to 24 to present their speeches at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair on November 2. The junior competition attracted one of the largest turn-outs with 24 speakers from across Canada. 

This year’s senior champion was Ellie Stauffer from Alberta; first runner-up was Anika

O'Neill from New Brunswick; second runner-up was Julie French from Ontario.

The junior champion was Ryley Mappin from Alberta; first runner-up was Caitlin Riordon from New Brunswick; second runner-up was Xinye Zhu from Ontario.

They had a choice of topics for a five-to-seven minute speech:  

• - How can aquaculture support the earth’s growing population?
• - Food fraud: Do you know what you’re eating?
• - Are GMOs the solution to food security?
• - The benefits and challenges of adopting new technologies on the farm.
• - Canada first: Can Canadian agriculture survive in an age of increased protectionism and globalization?
• - What does the next generation of agriculture bring to the table?
• - Bust a common myth in Canadian agriculture.

CYSA also announced a new competition to be launched in 2020. It will be a business presentation designed to emulate the real workplace experience of presenting an idea to a group of stakeholders. Contestants will be required to research, analyze and summarize an issue and “pitch” their results as a team to a panel of judges. More information will be available in the spring of 2020. 

Source:  Canadian Young Speakers for Agriculture November 6, 2019 news release