David MacTaggart from Lacombe took top honours in the Canadian Young Speakers for Agriculture competition held at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto earlier this month.

MacTaggart is a seven-year member and secretary of the Central Lacombe 4-H Beef Club.

This year’s competition featured 26 competitors aged 11 to 24 from across the country. MacTaggart won the senior division while Ontario’s Denesh Peramakumar was the junior champion.

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The winners and runners-up were awarded their honours by Governor General David Johnston.

The competition, held since 1985, is open to all youth with a passion for agriculture. Speeches are five to seven minutes long, and next year’s topics for the seniors’ competition are:

• What is the impact of public opinion on Canadian farmers?
• How would you explain a GMO to a non-farmer?
• What does the next generation of agriculture bring to the table?
• How can we improve the media’s perception of Canadian agriculture?
• Old MacDonald had a farm… But what about Mrs. MacDonald?

For more information, visit cysa-joca.ca.