OFI 793: Television Shows About Farming Inspire A Young Farmer And Entrepreneur | FFA SAE Edition | Raj Raja | Southern Guilford High School FFA

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SHOW NOTES

INTRODUCING RAJ RAJA!

I was recently contacted by Brad Hensley, the FFA Advisor from Southern Guilford High School in Greensboro, North Carolina.  He told me that he had a very unique FFA student that I should profile on the show.  Brad then went on to tell me a little of Raj Raja’s story, and he was right.  I was intrigued.

Raj’s parents were both born in Pakistan, in a city.  They had no exposure to agriculture.  For a better life they emigrated from Pakistan to the United States about five years before Raj was born.  They settled in New Jersey in an urban area, and that is where Raj spent the bulk of his childhood, leading up to high school.

During Raj’s childhood he also had no exposure to agriculture, but he found television shows about farming that he was fascinated with.  Raj consumed as much television about farming as he could.  His parents saw his interest in agriculture, and when it was time for him to begin high school they decided to make a move to facilitate this interest.

Raj’s parents decided to move to North Carolina to give Raj a more rural experience and allow him to learn about agriculture.  When they made the move they bought a home that was bordering a 60 acre soybean farm.  Raj’s parents purchased the soybean farm as well, and they allowed Raj to start farming the ground.

Raj has paid for all of the animals that he has purchased at this point through his own creativity.  He started with their family dog.  He had the dog bred and generated a little over $10,000 selling the puppies.  He took that money and began purchasing livestock.

Today, Raj has all sorts of livestock.  His supervised agricultural experience is focused on broiler production, but he also has rescue horses, other types of birds, goats, cattle, etc.  Raj has done a great job identifying different markets for animals such as chickens and goats.  He also has recognized the timing of the markets, and he makes a practice of buying goats and chickens when they are cheap and then realizing a profit off of them their price goes up.

Raj is a fascinating example of an entrepreneur and a new and beginning farmer!

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Broiler Production

HIGH SCHOOL: Southern Guilford High School, Greensboro, North Carolina

MASCOT: The Storm

FFA ADVISOR: Brad Hensley

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR RAJ RAJA:

Click on the picture below to be taken to the Southern Guilford High School Ag. Department’s website:

Raj’s FFA Advisor’s Email Address: hensleb@gcsnc.com

Southern Guilford High School Telephone Number: 336-674-4250

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE’s)

Support FFA 

Donate to FFA – One way that FFA students are able to start small businesses is through an FFA grant of $1,000.  In 2014, 141 FFA students received these grants.  With your donations, more students can get this head start – pay it forward.

REASONS TO DONATE TO FFA:

• Only 2% of Americans grow and raise most of the food and livestock consumed by the other 98% as well as the rest of the world.  FFA is providing the needed education, training and resources to Americans that will carry that torch forward and insure that America continues to have inexpensive, quality food.
• Rural Communities will rely on entrepreneurship in the future for population growth and job creation.  The FFA is a major catalyst to that entrepreneurial growth.
• Farmers, ranchers and those working in agriculture give the rest of America incredible amounts of freedom because the search for food is as simple as going to the grocery store:

“The future of American agriculture depends on the involvement and investment in America’s youth, In order to prepare for the population of tomorrow, we need to encourage America’s youth today, and show that careers in agriculture are profitable, rewarding, and vital.”.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue

Where Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald Can Be Heard:

Member Of The National Association Of Farm Broadcasters