CYSA competition announces 2021 winners,Taberite finishes third nationally

The Canadian Young Speakers for Agriculture (CYSA) Competition is pleased to announce the winners of the 2021 public speaking competition which took place virtually in light of on-going COVID-19 concerns and restrictions.

This year’s Senior Champion was Erica Li from Toronto; First Runner-up was Lucas Pham from Toronto; Second Runner-up was Christopher Mills from Taber, Alberta.

The Junior Champion was Brooklyn Piasta from La Salle, Manitoba; First Runner-up was Maxwell Archer from Mount Pleasant, Ontario; Second Runner-up was Alyson Katerenchuk from St. Albert, Alberta.

This year’s competition looked quite different compared to past years.

Competitors were invited to submit their five-to-seven-minute speech as a video uploaded to the CYSA website. The topics they could choose from were as follows:

• How a global pandemic changed Canadian agriculture – or has it?

• What it means to be a woman in agriculture in 2021

• Food waste, food security and food policy: What is agriculture’s/aquaculture’s role?

• Canadian aquaculture: Opportunities in a growing industry

• Does a changing climate mean opportunities or headaches for Canadian agriculture?

“After having to pause the competition in 2020, the CYSA board was determined not to miss another year,” said CYSA President April Stewart. “The CYSA public speaking competition is such an important platform for youth to have an opportunity to express their opinions and innovative ideas around current and future issues in the agriculture industry, we simply couldn’t deprive them of the chance for another year. Despite the 2021 competition looking quite different than the past, it went off without a hitch and we look forward to seeing everyone in person again at our traditional venue, the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, in November 2022.”

Each year the renowned public speaking competition is held at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair (a Platinum sponsor of CYSA) in Toronto. The competition is open to youth ages 11 to 24 with a passion for agriculture whether raised on a farm, in the country or in the city.

Canadian Young Speakers for Agriculture is a national, bilingual competition that provides a platform for participants to share their opinions, ideas and concerns about the Canadian agrifood industry in a five- to seven-minute prepared speech.

Since the first competition held at the Royal Winter Fair in honour of the International Year of the Youth in 1985, it has gone on to become the premier public speaking event in Canada for young people interested in agriculture, with more than 1000 participants over the years. For more information about CYSA visit www.cysa-joca.ca

Watch social media channels (Twitter: @CYSAgriculture, Facebook: facebook. com/CYSA.JOCA, Instagram: Instagram. com/cysa.joca, and YouTube: search cysajoca) in the coming weeks for 2021 presentation videos.