Latest / The Future Herd / 15: Who Gets Close, Who Gets In, with Jordyn Domio

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15: Who Gets Close, Who Gets In, with Jordyn Domio · The Future Herd

0:01
Jesse Hirsh: Hi, I'm Jesse Hirsh.
0:03
Welcome to The Future Herd.
0:10
Some conversations reveal a system others revealed the gap between
0:15
how a system imagines itself and how it is actually experienced.
0:21
This episode with Jordyn Domio sits squarely in that gap.
0:26
What Jordyn brings into focus is not agriculture as an industry,
0:30
but agriculture as a lived pathway.
0:33
One that is far less visible, far less accessible, and far more uneven
0:38
than the sector often acknowledges.
0:41
There is a persistent story the industry tells about itself.
0:45
That opportunity is there for those willing to work, that the next
0:49
generation simply needs to step up.
0:53
Yet what Jordyn surfaces calmly, but unmistakably is
0:57
how incomplete that story is.
1:01
Because participation is not evenly distributed, exposure is not
1:06
universal, and the idea that someone might see themselves in agriculture
1:11
might even consider it as a future is often the result of a very
1:16
specific conditions and circumstances that many may never encounter.
1:24
From that starting point, the conversation shifts.
1:27
It becomes less about recruitment and more about recognition, less
1:32
about labour shortages, more about imagination, shortages.
1:37
Who gets to see agriculture up close?
1:40
Who gets invited into spaces early enough to matter, and who is
1:46
treated as a stakeholder versus an afterthought or even worse an opponent.
1:53
What makes this discussion compelling is that it doesn't settle for critique.
1:59
Jordyn points towards the subtle but powerful interventions that can change
2:04
trajectories, moments of inclusion, early responsibility being taken
2:10
seriously before you feel ready.
2:12
These are not structural reforms in the traditional sense.
2:17
They're cultural opportunities and yet they may be the most decisive factor
2:23
in whether the sector reproduces itself or like a Phoenix transforms into
2:29
something even more powerful and radiant.
2:33
By the end, the question is no longer whether agriculture has a next generation.
2:40
It's whether it is willing to recognise them, empower them,
2:44
and reshape itself accordingly.
2:48
Jordyn is another one of those young leaders that the moment you
2:51
listen, the moment you start to understand their perspective, their
2:56
experience, their potential, the more you just wanna hand over to the
3:00
reins to young people like Jordyn.
3:03
And perhaps that's one of the, uh, opportunities or consequences
3:08
of conversations like this.
3:10
Here we go.
3:13
Jordyn, welcome to the Future Herd.
3:16
Jordyn Domio: Thank you.
3:16
Thank you for having me.
3:18
Jesse Hirsh: Now, I, I love to start our discussion with a really wild and abstract
3:22
question to kind of set the context and it's what does the future mean to you?
3:29
Jordyn Domio: Great
3:29
Jesse Hirsh: Great question.
3:30
I think there's
3:31
Jordyn Domio: a lot
3:32
Jesse Hirsh: a.
3:32
Jordyn Domio: that go into that, but the main part that I focus on is you
3:37
all the continuity of the industry.
3:39
So you need new people coming in, you need new ideas coming in.
3:43
So for me, focusing on the younger people in agriculture, it's, we need
3:46
to be fostering that and giving them.
3:48
The outlet to explore and contribute and seeing where they can go.
3:54
'cause they're gonna be the old guys one day that are continuing this.
3:57
So giving them that platform is a great way to start.
4:01
Jesse Hirsh: Right on.
4:02
And, and paradoxically, I would point out that as a practising futurist,
4:08
it's pretty rare that I find young people interested in the future.
4:12
And that's the paradox that is often
4:15
Jordyn Domio: Mm-hmm.
4:15
Jesse Hirsh: old people, those least likely to see the future, who
4:19
tend to be most concerned with it
4:21
Jordyn Domio: with
4:21
Jesse Hirsh: versus I find the younger you are, the more you
4:24
kind of take it for granted.
4:25
So I'm curious.
4:28
I do wanna get into kind of how you got into leadership and the organisations
4:32
that you're involved in, but I kind of wanna start with this idea.
4:36
I I how often when you deal with young people, when you
4:40
engage with fellow young people,
4:42
Jordyn Domio: Do
4:42
Jesse Hirsh: do you find that they are open to the future?
4:45
Or is it something that you kind of have to tease out to them?
4:48
'cause maybe they're just thinking about the moment and the present
4:51
and what they're gonna do today.
4:54
Jordyn Domio: I definitely think you get both.
4:55
I think there are the few standout younger people who are like really gung-ho about
5:01
it and they're like, no, I have a plan.
5:02
I want to do something.
5:03
And they, they have that drive, they have that ambition.
5:06
But then you will get kind of just the general.
5:09
Younger population of they haven't either been exposed to anything yet,
5:13
or they haven't been given the chance to experience, so they, it's not that
5:16
they don't care about the future, it's, they don't have a set idea of
5:20
what they want for yet because they haven't been given the opportunity
5:23
to explore it or think about it.
5:25
I think once you give people that opportunity or put that thought
5:28
in their head of, Hey, what do you wanna see for the industry you're in?
5:33
your opinion matters, then they kind of take that and roll with it.
5:36
But I do think it's both.
5:38
You have the people who aren't su, like they just don't know that they can have
5:42
an opinion yet, and then you have the people like, no, I have an opinion.
5:44
You're gonna listen to me have it.
5:46
Jesse Hirsh: Right on and, and I think you just made a really brilliant insight
5:50
that kind of rings through a lot of the conversations I've had on this podcast,
5:55
Jordyn Domio: podcast,
5:55
Jesse Hirsh: which is at some point someone gave permission,
5:59
someone gave an invitation, someone said, Hey, you're a leader now.
6:03
And it created this psychological shift where all of a sudden, to your
6:07
point, people said, yeah, I do have opinions, I do have perspectives.
6:11
When did that happen to you?
6:12
Jordyn Domio: happen?
6:12
Jesse Hirsh: Right.
6:13
What, what, what was the point in your life that you realised, you
6:16
know what, what I think actually matters and, and maybe I should
6:20
be expressing myself accordingly.
6:22
Jordyn Domio: I'll say for me, for me personally, it's, I've
6:25
had it throughout my life.
6:26
I've always been a very type A person to begin with.
6:29
I, thank my mother who's a high up government worker, that she's type A,
6:36
so I inherited that in the, the kind of policy procedure mindset from her.
6:40
So I've always been told throughout my life, whether it was in high school
6:43
or sports or university, that, oh.
6:46
You're
6:46
Jesse Hirsh: You're
6:46
Jordyn Domio: have that
6:47
Jesse Hirsh: have that kind of
6:48
Jordyn Domio: to lead or do more, you should explore that.
6:51
So every time I've focused on something diff different.
6:54
So whether it was in high school, I was in all the clubs or now
6:57
Jesse Hirsh: now?
6:58
Jordyn Domio: industry, it's, I've kind of just, every time I get
6:59
into a new room, it's like, oh, hey, you have this going for you.
7:03
Let's kind of go with that.
7:05
So I feel like every
7:07
Jesse Hirsh: Every now and every time I try to.
7:09
Jordyn Domio: points me out being like, Hey, you can go further with this.
7:13
Jesse Hirsh: On.
7:14
And you know, I, I, I wanna take a tangent there only 'cause I think you
7:17
highlighted a really interesting method.
7:20
'cause what I heard you describe in my world is kind of mapping,
7:24
Jordyn Domio: kind
7:24
Jesse Hirsh: like, when I play a video game, I'm gonna map out the territory, or
7:27
to your metaphor, when I go to an event,
7:30
Jordyn Domio: to an
7:30
Jesse Hirsh: I'm gonna map out who's exhibiting, I'm gonna.
7:32
Both the associations, and I'm gonna figure out kind of how I tap into that.
7:37
Jordyn Domio: into
7:38
Jesse Hirsh: How has that worked for you?
7:39
Because O obviously it's worked really well,
7:42
Jordyn Domio: well.
7:42
Jesse Hirsh: but it, it's something maybe a lot of people take for granted
7:45
in terms of trying to find out where you fit or where to connect, or where you'll
7:49
be valued or where you'll be useful.
7:51
I'd love for you just to elaborate on that, just for a moment.
7:54
Jordyn Domio: for a moment.
7:55
I think, like you said, it is mapping.
7:57
So specifically if you're at an event, an agricultural event, there's gonna
8:02
Jesse Hirsh: There's gonna be people there
8:03
Jordyn Domio: mindsets of you.
8:04
That's why you're all in the room.
8:06
So knowing the best way to learn about anything is to talk to
8:09
somebody who deals with it every day.
8:11
So if there's.
8:12
A career you want.
8:13
If there's
8:14
Jesse Hirsh: if there's a barrier of research.
8:16
Jordyn Domio: if there's anything you want,
8:17
Jesse Hirsh: Want
8:17
Jordyn Domio: someone who knows about that is gonna be the best way
8:20
for you to learn more about that.
8:22
So for
8:23
Jesse Hirsh: for myself,
8:23
Jordyn Domio: I went to a networking event or a
8:25
Jesse Hirsh: vendor.
8:26
Jordyn Domio: show, it's, well, who is doing something I want
8:28
to know more about, or I'd like to potentially see myself doing.
8:32
I'm gonna go talk to them and see where that leads.
8:35
No, everyone who is invested in something will gladly tell
8:38
you about what they're doing.
8:39
We all love our research, or we all love our jobs to some
8:42
degree, so we're gonna tell you.
8:45
We're gonna talk to you about it.
8:46
So it's nice to have someone who is as is interested in it.
8:49
And as soon as you have someone who has that kind of, oh, hey, I am
8:52
interested in what you do, I wanna talk more about it, the floodgate's
8:55
open and they're gonna tell you everything they have to know about it.
8:58
Jesse Hirsh: Well, and, and again, I think you've, uh, identified a brilliant tactic
9:01
and, and I say certainly in my own case
9:03
Jordyn Domio: case.
9:04
Jesse Hirsh: don't realise this, but I am quite socially awkward
9:08
and the way I've always managed that is to just ask questions.
9:11
Right?
9:11
That when I go to an event, if you just get people talking
9:14
about what they're excited about,
9:16
Jordyn Domio: about,
9:16
Jesse Hirsh: get what you want in terms of their knowledge.
9:19
Jordyn Domio: their
9:19
Jesse Hirsh: And they get what they want in terms of the
9:21
being to express themselves.
9:23
Now you, you said something I also wanna peel off, and while obviously
9:27
today I do want to talk about the Junior Farmers Association of Ontario
9:31
and kind of the role that it plays in sectoral leadership and yada, yada, yada.
9:35
Jordyn Domio: yada.
9:36
Jesse Hirsh: But you kind of alluded that part of your methodology was
9:39
just finding the clubs, joining the clubs, finding the different
9:42
organisations that, you know, you could be part of, you could contribute to.
9:47
So what were some of the groups, what were some of the clubs that, as you were
9:50
growing up, as you were kinda, you know, uh, uh, uh, developing your skills as a
9:55
leader, that that really benefited you or that you found a lot of value from?
10:02
Jordyn Domio: Growing up I always enjoy, like
10:04
Jesse Hirsh: But like I enjoyed the
10:05
Jordyn Domio: grew up on a farm.
10:07
Jesse Hirsh: farm
10:07
Jordyn Domio: outside all the
10:08
Jesse Hirsh: all the time.
10:09
Jordyn Domio: enjoyed
10:10
Jesse Hirsh: enjoyed that, which kind of
10:11
Jordyn Domio: my beginning
10:12
Jesse Hirsh: getting interest in
10:13
Jordyn Domio: the
10:14
Jesse Hirsh: like the environment,
10:15
Jordyn Domio: environmental sciences at school and that's
10:17
kind of, so I always, there's an
10:19
Jesse Hirsh: there's an environmental, so I
10:20
Jordyn Domio: so I kind of
10:21
Jesse Hirsh: kind of
10:22
Jordyn Domio: with that at the high school and the university level.
10:25
And then from there, it's.
10:26
Environment and
10:27
Jesse Hirsh: and agricul.
10:29
Jordyn Domio: that you can't talk about one without talking about the other.
10:32
So no matter how hard I tried to get away from agriculture in my schooling
10:36
years, I always found myself back into it and it's like, well, I'm never escaping
10:40
it, so I might as well just go with it.
10:42
And I really love that.
10:44
So it was, yeah, getting into these special interests clubs you have
10:48
getting from there, and then it guides you into a further more in
10:52
depth interest that you might have.
10:54
And then
10:54
Jesse Hirsh: And then from there.
10:56
Jordyn Domio: I, Ontario Federation of Agriculture is where I started my
10:59
journey in the General Ag organisations.
11:02
Um, and from being in there and people wanting to hear the, I was the youngest
11:06
person in the room, so they wanted to hear what I had to say and why I was there.
11:10
And then luckily that connection led me down the path that I am now and
11:14
to, and it was their recommendation to look into the Junior Farmers
11:18
Association of Ontario, and we've kind of just kept rolling from there.
11:23
Jesse Hirsh: On.
11:23
And, and I think again, another important tip for any young
11:26
person listening, uh, to us today
11:28
Jordyn Domio: us
11:29
Jesse Hirsh: is find the room where you are the youngest because it grants
11:33
you a kind of instant authority,
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Jordyn Domio: authority,
11:35
Jesse Hirsh: Like, you just have to stand up and go, Hey, hey, I'm the future.
11:38
Listen to me.
11:40
Jordyn Domio: to me,
11:40
Jesse Hirsh: And people will,
11:41
Jordyn Domio: people
11:41
Jesse Hirsh: it's remarkable how that, that trick is really quite effective.
11:44
Jordyn Domio: effective.
11:45
Jesse Hirsh: Now,
11:46
Jordyn Domio: It's.
11:46
Jesse Hirsh: another, sorry.
11:47
Go ahead.
11:48
Jordyn Domio: Nope.
11:48
Oh, I was say it's fun that one thing that sets you apart from everybody.
11:52
'cause that makes you stand out.
11:54
So whether you're the youngest, whether you're the only like female or male in
11:58
the room, anything like that, it, it helps to kind of propel and give you
12:02
that platform to speak on at starts.
12:04
And then you just make sure you're talking about something you
12:07
care about and that makes sense.
12:09
Jesse Hirsh: And to your point, uh, no matter what room you're in,
12:13
there's something about you that is different from everyone else.
12:16
You just have to know what that is and be able to present it as a value proposition.
12:21
You said something else that I want to digress on, uh, only because I love these.
12:25
Sprawling random style conversations,
12:29
Jordyn Domio: conversations.
12:29
Jesse Hirsh: to evoke a academic term or a technical term
12:33
Jordyn Domio: technical
12:34
Jesse Hirsh: intersectionality.
12:36
And, and this refers to when, you know, different domains are kind of combined
12:41
Jordyn Domio: combined
12:42
Jesse Hirsh: the, the sum greater than the whole.
12:45
Jordyn Domio: than
12:45
Jesse Hirsh: And you evoked that when you talked about how you were
12:47
pursuing environmental studies, almost trying to get away from your
12:51
Jordyn Domio: a
12:51
Jesse Hirsh: kind of agricultural roots, but then you kind of realised that the
12:55
benefit was bringing the two together.
12:57
Jordyn Domio: the two
12:57
Jesse Hirsh: I'd love for you to unpack that, and I'd love for
13:00
you to talk more about the way in which, you know, combining these
13:04
worlds and connecting these worlds creates opportunities unto itself.
13:08
Jordyn Domio: unto itself.
13:10
I safe to say
13:11
Jesse Hirsh: It's safe to say no one
13:12
Jordyn Domio: about the
13:13
Jesse Hirsh: more about environment.
13:14
Jordyn Domio: because they're heavily reliant
13:16
Jesse Hirsh: Clients,
13:17
Jordyn Domio: that's how they
13:18
Jesse Hirsh: that's how they make their money.
13:19
They care about
13:20
Jordyn Domio: in
13:20
Jesse Hirsh: what on,
13:21
Jordyn Domio: in their ecosystems.
13:23
Jesse Hirsh: so
13:24
Jordyn Domio: are
13:24
Jesse Hirsh: farmers are environmentally
13:26
Jordyn Domio: if you wanna say it like that.
13:27
Jesse Hirsh: that.
13:28
Jordyn Domio: no, it
13:28
Jesse Hirsh: Um, but no, it was very interesting that farmers
13:30
Jordyn Domio: are
13:30
Jesse Hirsh: are trying to keep their land
13:32
Jordyn Domio: like better
13:33
Jesse Hirsh: better,
13:33
Jordyn Domio: and better
13:33
Jesse Hirsh: better concern, farming, that being
13:36
Jordyn Domio: Easier for them to do their
13:38
Jesse Hirsh: their,
13:38
Jordyn Domio: And when you get
13:39
Jesse Hirsh: and we get the environmental,
13:40
Jordyn Domio: they're
13:41
Jesse Hirsh: they
13:41
Jordyn Domio: a bit more of
13:42
Jesse Hirsh: grade.
13:42
Jordyn Domio: scope.
13:43
But everything about ecology or like hydrology or anything like that can
13:48
be brought back into agriculture and be like, Hey, well we're learning
13:50
this in just environments in general.
13:53
do you bring that
13:54
Jesse Hirsh: to bring that back.
13:55
Jordyn Domio: growing our crops or farming better in general?
13:58
'cause we're all using the land and we all wanna keep the land productive.
14:02
Jesse Hirsh: And, and you evoked a, a really interesting
14:05
authority mechanism that
14:07
Jordyn Domio: that
14:08
Jesse Hirsh: you were able to straddle both of those worlds, that
14:12
gives you the confidence to assert quite rightly, that farmers are, are
14:16
Jordyn Domio: are by
14:18
Jesse Hirsh: that they're kind of the original environmentalists in terms of
14:21
thinking about the long term sort of stewardship of the land and, and the
14:25
climate and the environment as a whole.
14:27
Jordyn Domio: whole.
14:28
Jesse Hirsh: And I think there's a lot of farmers who
14:30
are insecure to say that, right?
14:32
Like they sort of in the back of their mind know that they do a
14:35
really good job of taking care of the environment, you know, uh, through their
14:39
operations, but they're intimidated by people who they don't understand
14:44
who might be critical of them.
14:45
Jordyn Domio: of them.
14:46
Jesse Hirsh: Yet you have that leadership ability to be able to connect those
14:49
dots and say, actually no, we can assert our leadership in this area.
14:54
We can assert our authority in this area.
14:56
Jordyn Domio: this area.
14:57
Jesse Hirsh: Have you encountered pushback or have you,
14:59
Jordyn Domio: or
14:59
Jesse Hirsh: you know, how did you come, because you, you use
15:02
that framing quite confidently.
15:06
How did you arrive there?
15:07
And again, I think you may take it for granted, but there may be other people are
15:10
going, wow, Jordyn, that's pretty cool.
15:12
How did you get to that point?
15:15
Jordyn Domio: No, and I definitely think there is the stigmatism of, well,
15:20
farmers are just taking everything from the environment, so how can you be
15:23
benefiting the environment or how can cash cropping be good for the environment
15:27
when you're tilling the land and all that?
15:28
And it's, well.
15:29
Yes, there's
15:30
Jesse Hirsh: There's definitely things that.
15:32
Jordyn Domio: help the environment, but farmers are gonna be the first
15:35
to be like, well, how do I make the soil work better for me so I don't
15:38
have to put as much money into it?
15:40
Especially in today's climate where inputs are so expensive and they're only
15:44
gonna keep getting more expensive, how do we make the land do better for us?
15:48
And.
15:49
Brings it back to ecology and like if you have a good ecosystem,
15:53
everything's gonna do better.
15:54
You're gonna have better organic matter in your soil.
15:56
You're gonna have better biodiversity of the bugs in your environment
16:00
that are helping pollinate.
16:01
And the more bugs you have, the less pressures there actually are.
16:05
'cause they're competing each other.
16:07
And there's a whole bunch of stuff that goes into that.
16:08
So yes, farmers might not be seen as the true stewards that we wanna
16:14
think environmentalists are, but.
16:16
You'll ask any farmer and if you give them away like, Hey, I can decrease
16:20
your fertiliser costs by increasing how your ecosystem works, they're
16:24
gonna be the first to jump on that.
16:25
'cause who doesn't wanna save money when you can
16:28
Jesse Hirsh: And, and this speaks really to the mission of the future herd and
16:32
what I want to accomplish in that.
16:33
My hypothesis is that not only do we have a range of
16:38
phenomenal leaders like yourself,
16:40
Jordyn Domio: yourself,
16:41
Jesse Hirsh: are carrying the kind of knowledge that we need
16:44
to be elevating into the public consciousness, into the, the policy.
16:48
Environment into the way in which we imagine this stuff.
16:51
'cause to your point, I've for a long time heard about how farmers
16:55
were like destroying soul soil and, you know, uh, doing these
16:59
practises that would devastate it.
17:01
Jordyn Domio: devastated.
17:02
Jesse Hirsh: as I got into TikTok and started looking and listening
17:05
to farmers in their practises, I realised that's really outdated.
17:08
Jordyn Domio: outdated.
17:09
That
17:09
Jesse Hirsh: they've already adapted a lot of their practises in really
17:13
remarkable and innovative ways.
17:16
It's just the stereotypes remain
17:18
Jordyn Domio: remain
17:19
Jesse Hirsh: of the practises having changed in many cases, quite radically.
17:23
Jordyn Domio: Mm-hmm.
17:25
Jesse Hirsh: to transition to the role of organisations like the
17:28
ones that you've been involved in.
17:30
Jordyn Domio: involved
17:30
Jesse Hirsh: How does that knowledge spread?
17:33
Like how does.
17:34
Jordyn Domio: Like
17:34
Jesse Hirsh: say, you know, if one farmer or if one researcher comes up with a
17:38
better way to manage their practises,
17:41
Jordyn Domio: their
17:41
Jesse Hirsh: how do other farmers learn?
17:43
Like how does that knowledge kind of spread throughout the industry?
17:47
Jordyn Domio: the
17:47
Jesse Hirsh: Because I'm seeing the results.
17:49
I know that it is spreading,
17:50
Jordyn Domio: is
17:51
Jesse Hirsh: but I'm still starting to understand exactly how that knowledge
17:54
mobilisation kind of manifests.
17:56
Jordyn Domio: kind of manifests.
17:58
Well, it goes back to the, you have to find that room to be in.
18:01
There's, someone's gonna wanna talk about it.
18:03
If a farmer's doing
18:04
Jesse Hirsh: Farmer
18:05
Jordyn Domio: and cool and they're proud of it, they
18:06
Jesse Hirsh: proud this they,
18:07
Jordyn Domio: it.
18:07
They wanna show you, Hey, look, look what I've been able to do with my soil.
18:12
I am lucky
18:13
Jesse Hirsh: I'm lucky that.
18:14
Jordyn Domio: I've, I am with, and especially my current, my my day job
18:18
at the moment is with the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association.
18:22
We're giving farmers that platform to, Hey, have you done something interesting?
18:27
Why don't you tell more people about it?
18:28
We'll host an event at your farm, or, we'll, like, like we'll host
18:31
a webinar about what you're doing.
18:33
We'll connect it to the research where we've been doing, or other
18:36
institutes have been doing, and we'll share that with people.
18:39
And there is a
18:41
Jesse Hirsh: There is
18:42
Jordyn Domio: it's
18:42
Jesse Hirsh: lot of, whether it's
18:44
Jordyn Domio: or your conservation authority or other
18:46
organisations, there's a lot of
18:47
Jesse Hirsh: organisation,
18:47
Jordyn Domio: for people to A, for farmers to access this
18:50
money to try these new things.
18:52
So if you look hard enough,
18:53
Jesse Hirsh: most part of it,
18:54
Jordyn Domio: you, or
18:54
Jesse Hirsh: gonna tell them
18:55
Jordyn Domio: about
18:56
Jesse Hirsh: information.
18:56
Jordyn Domio: there'll be someone there to help you or give you
18:58
Jesse Hirsh: To help.
18:59
Jordyn Domio: on it.
19:01
Jesse Hirsh: And, and I think that's a really important point to emphasise that
19:04
the, the infrastructure and the support for this kind of knowledge mobilisation
19:09
Jordyn Domio: mobilisation
19:11
Jesse Hirsh: place because I think the sector as a whole is not just
19:14
recognising that we need to be telling better stories, which is the
19:17
cliche you keep be hearing repeated,
19:20
Jordyn Domio: be
19:20
Jesse Hirsh: but that we need to be empowering these.
19:22
Jordyn Domio: empowering these
19:24
Jesse Hirsh: We need to be elevating these people by running events,
19:27
by bringing people together.
19:28
I, I'm, I'm with you a hundred percent there.
19:30
Jordyn Domio: be a
19:30
Jesse Hirsh: So let's for a moment bring it back to the, the Junior Farmers
19:34
Associations and, and here obviously we're talking about Ontario, but we are
19:38
Jordyn Domio: an
19:38
Jesse Hirsh: trying to appeal to a kind of national audience.
19:40
So we're assuming that this is happening across the country.
19:44
Talk about the value and role of getting young farmers together and,
19:48
and, and, and cre do replicating part of what you're describing.
19:51
Getting everyone into the same room, but also going back to where we started,
19:56
giving them the social licence to realise they're leaders and they're entitled
20:00
to have a perspective and an opinion.
20:02
Jordyn Domio: to have a perspective and an opinion.
20:05
Well, that's the
20:05
Jesse Hirsh: That's the beauty of
20:07
Jordyn Domio: farmers
20:07
Jesse Hirsh: farmer.
20:08
Jordyn Domio: are a group of.
20:09
people who have an interest in agriculture, whether you grew up on
20:12
the farm, work in the industry, or just like agriculture in general.
20:16
It brings all of those people together and then gives you that outlet to talk
20:21
about what are you doing on their farm.
20:23
Ask people about what they're doing on their farm, or we'll host or we'll
20:26
host events where we'll bring in people through junior farmers to talk to our.
20:31
Um, our membership on new innovations in research new like fertilisers or anything
20:37
Jesse Hirsh: or anything that
20:38
Jordyn Domio: platform to talk to these young people.
20:40
We'll bring our young people on farm tours to see different things or
20:43
see different parts of our industry.
20:46
We'll kind of give them
20:47
Jesse Hirsh: some
20:48
Jordyn Domio: to explore all that as well as talk to their peers about,
20:50
and kind of get a better idea.
20:52
Junior Farmers is really great.
20:54
For that.
20:54
Jesse Hirsh: for that
20:55
Jordyn Domio: we're giving you, we're bringing
20:57
Jesse Hirsh: we're bringing you into the back room and.
20:59
Jordyn Domio: all have the same interest.
21:01
Let's explore that.
21:02
Let's see different things throughout the province.
21:04
Let's see what other people are doing.
21:06
We're lucky that the Junior Farmers Association, we are working with other
21:09
provinces, so we are kind of going national with it of what is BC doing?
21:13
What is PEI doing?
21:14
I was just recently in Quebec, uh, with their.
21:17
Young farmer organisation over there, hearing how they do things
21:20
and then bringing them over and showing them how we do things.
21:22
So it's nice to have that organisation level to do that
21:26
across the country as well.
21:28
Jesse Hirsh: Right on.
21:29
And certainly it would be easy for us to kind of pause there and go, great.
21:33
Yeah.
21:33
Isn't it awesome the, the way that young people are kind of getting organised,
21:37
Jordyn Domio: people are
21:38
Jesse Hirsh: I often find amongst adults that that will be the cliche that.
21:42
For example, when I was a young leader,
21:44
Jordyn Domio: example,
21:45
Jesse Hirsh: know, adults would always tap me on the head and
21:47
be like, way to go, buddy.
21:48
Great job.
21:49
But they wouldn't actually give me the resources I wanted.
21:52
They, they wouldn't give me the power, uh, that I wanted.
21:56
Jordyn Domio: power,
21:57
Jesse Hirsh: throw you a curve ball question, especially given that you
22:00
know, you, you half perspective, you, you've been involved in this,
22:04
uh, enough that I think you've seen what works and see what doesn't work.
22:09
Jordyn Domio: and
22:09
Jesse Hirsh: Where are the gaps?
22:10
What?
22:11
What are the things when it comes to either specifically the Junior Farmers
22:14
Association or young farmers in general?
22:18
Where could we be doing better?
22:20
Where are the areas that, if you did have infinite resources, if these
22:24
organisations had better support from
22:27
Jordyn Domio: had better
22:27
Jesse Hirsh: elements of the sector,
22:29
Jordyn Domio: other
22:29
Jesse Hirsh: you know, what would you love to see?
22:31
What, what do you think's missing?
22:33
What are the challenges or pain points that.
22:35
Are worthy of addressing when it comes to empowering the that
22:39
next generation of leaders.
22:40
Jordyn Domio: the that next generation of leaders?
22:43
I think it is giving younger people the resources, whether it's giving
22:47
them the organisation to join where they can do this, whether it's putting
22:50
the networking events or the crop tours or anything in front of them.
22:55
There's so many
22:56
Jesse Hirsh: many sausages that.
22:57
Jordyn Domio: overwhelming, especially in the ag industry
22:59
because you have all of these different organisations that are all.
23:03
Have some sort of young person component to them.
23:07
There's almost too many options for some people to choose,
23:10
but it's great that there is
23:11
Jesse Hirsh: It.
23:12
There is video.
23:13
Jordyn Domio: it lets you either decide on like a more niche interest you have,
23:17
or you can go to the more general side of things like junior farmers where
23:20
we'll give you access to everything.
23:22
So that's been
23:23
Jesse Hirsh: That's really nice.
23:24
I'll say
23:25
Jordyn Domio: biggest
23:25
Jesse Hirsh: biggest
23:25
Jordyn Domio: young
23:26
Jesse Hirsh: for young.
23:26
Jordyn Domio: seeing is just the time to do it.
23:28
We are
23:28
Jesse Hirsh: We are now.
23:29
Jordyn Domio: where everyone has an off-farm job.
23:32
If you are on farm or if you're not on farm and have infinite
23:36
vacation days, we don't have infinite resources to do all that.
23:39
That's the biggest hurdle is just finding the time to do it because a lot of
23:43
these organisations are geared to people who are on the farm who can have that
23:47
flexibility to leave, or people who.
23:50
Aren't in school, aren't working full time.
23:52
They kind of seem to miss that.
23:54
We all have lives off the farm now for the most part.
23:58
So finding that time is the biggest issue A lot of us are having.
24:02
Junior farmers has been.
24:03
Mm-hmm.
24:04
Jesse Hirsh: I was gonna say, I kind of call it the James Brown Effect in that
24:07
James Brown at, at his peak called himself the hardest working man in showbiz.
24:12
Jordyn Domio: CHOP
24:12
Jesse Hirsh: And I kind of find that's how you can describe young
24:15
farmers, that they're the hardest working people in the agribusiness.
24:19
Not to say that the adults aren't working really hard too,
24:23
Jordyn Domio: too,
24:24
Jesse Hirsh: it is phenomenal, the work ethic you see, only because there
24:27
is only a certain amount of time in the day and there's so much that can
24:30
be done and that people want to do.
24:32
Jordyn Domio: do.
24:33
Jesse Hirsh: How, how, how do you guys support that,
24:35
Jordyn Domio: that?
24:36
Jesse Hirsh: given that, on the one hand you're young, so you got your
24:38
health on your side, but on the other hand, I'm sure burnout is another
24:42
factor that complicates things.
24:44
Jordyn Domio: It is, and we're always trying to be cognizant of that.
24:47
So we do offer a lot of like the mental health or the support side on
24:50
that being like, yes, we all love it.
24:52
We all wanna be a part of it, but we do need to appreciate that.
24:55
We're just, we're only human.
24:57
We only have so many hours in the day.
24:58
We need to be careful of, yes, we want to be involved in all these
25:01
things, but we need to make sure we're doing it in a healthy way.
25:04
Junior farmers has been great because we've, most of our meetings or anything
25:08
like that, we've, we've moved it to an online, so we'll have a Zoom
25:11
meeting or we'll have a webinar.
25:13
We've done, we've incorporated that a lot or all of the events we do, we try
25:17
to have them on a weekend so that you can not have to take time away from
25:21
your day job if you have one and you can still come to all these events.
25:25
So purposely scheduling things around that or making sure if we have to,
25:28
Jesse Hirsh: We have,
25:29
Jordyn Domio: for the executive side of junior farmers in the
25:31
actual like running of the organisation, we always try to pair.
25:35
meetings or the conversations we need to have with a fun social
25:38
event we're, we're doing as well.
25:40
So you kind of get the, the working
25:42
Jesse Hirsh: I'm working
25:42
Jordyn Domio: then the fun part of it, so it's, yes, you're coming out and you're
25:45
spending your weekend doing junior farmer things, but we're having fun and we're
25:49
still accomplishing and being productive.
25:51
Jesse Hirsh: Right on.
25:52
Now what about the kind of industry relations and industry support and,
25:57
and I say this 'cause certainly I can imagine from the industry side
26:00
how valuable you guys would appear,
26:03
Jordyn Domio: appear,
26:04
Jesse Hirsh: because there's so much talent that can be identified
26:07
early and potentially wooed over to various enterprises and operations.
26:12
Jordyn Domio: operations.
26:14
But
26:14
Jesse Hirsh: the education opportunities, right?
26:16
The opportunities for young people to learn,
26:18
Jordyn Domio: to
26:18
Jesse Hirsh: but also the opportunity for the industry to learn from
26:21
the fresh ideas and new takes that young people often have.
26:25
Jordyn Domio: have.
26:26
Jesse Hirsh: how has that relationship been and to, how has it evolved over the
26:29
time that you've kind of been involved?
26:31
Jordyn Domio: been involved?
26:32
It's really good actually.
26:34
So we have a
26:34
Jesse Hirsh: We have a lot of good partnerships like other organisations
26:38
Jordyn Domio: um, commodity groups within the
26:40
Jesse Hirsh: in the industry.
26:41
So
26:41
Jordyn Domio: we're
26:41
Jesse Hirsh: if we're an
26:42
Jordyn Domio: event,
26:42
Jesse Hirsh: event, we
26:43
Jordyn Domio: the platform to come talk or network with our young
26:46
people in exchange for either sponsorship or, um, just their time to
26:51
Jesse Hirsh: trying.
26:51
Jordyn Domio: to us about something.
26:52
So we have a lot of good connections with that, that we've been able to leverage.
26:55
And then it
26:56
Jesse Hirsh: And
26:56
Jordyn Domio: we are.
26:57
A group
26:57
Jesse Hirsh: a group of young
26:58
Jordyn Domio: interested and wanna take on leadership roles
27:01
or wanna do more in the industry.
27:02
So it's kind of like, hey.
27:03
We'll give them all
27:04
Jesse Hirsh: give them all
27:05
Jordyn Domio: training, we'll give them all the leadership training, and then
27:08
Jesse Hirsh: and the
27:08
Jordyn Domio: they age out or when they're done with the junior
27:10
side of things and they move
27:11
Jesse Hirsh: for
27:11
Jordyn Domio: more adult
27:12
Jesse Hirsh: adult lives
27:13
Jordyn Domio: then you can go
27:14
Jesse Hirsh: go.
27:14
Jordyn Domio: join the other more general organisations or
27:18
the commodity organisations.
27:19
So we're kind of that stone training ground where,
27:22
Jesse Hirsh: Training.
27:22
Okay.
27:23
We're gonna identify
27:24
Jordyn Domio: leaders, we're gonna give them the tools they need to succeed.
27:27
And then once.
27:28
They've been able to learn all that.
27:30
Jesse Hirsh: all that.
27:30
Then we can
27:30
Jordyn Domio: into the broader
27:32
Jesse Hirsh: broader.
27:33
Jordyn Domio: world and they can carry on doing with
27:35
everything they've learned here.
27:37
Jesse Hirsh: Right on.
27:37
And, and let's take a moment to kind of digress on that, because I've
27:41
always found the ageing out dynamic of a young youth organisations is
27:47
on the one hand a constant, right?
27:49
People age, they're, they go from young to old.
27:52
But it is different organisations manage that in different ways,
27:56
Jordyn Domio: ways.
27:57
Jesse Hirsh: it speaks to, on the one hand, how when people ageing
28:00
out, they may not want to leave.
28:02
Like I see in sports organisations, that's how people become coaches.
28:06
That's how people become kind of mentors.
28:08
Jordyn Domio: and.
28:09
Jesse Hirsh: But at the same time, you are kinda losing talent and
28:12
knowledge that yes, you gotta replace.
28:15
Do you guys think about that?
28:16
Do you have a process around how people age out and think about whether it's like
28:21
alumni or just people you know as you age?
28:24
'cause hey, they were part of young farmers too.
28:27
Jordyn Domio: No, and we, we do think about that all the time, and we do
28:29
luckily have a very strong alumni group who yes, they like, they know everything.
28:35
So not, they don't know ev
28:37
Jesse Hirsh: don't have to.
28:38
Jordyn Domio: They've been through this.
28:40
We don't need, they've
28:41
Jesse Hirsh: Same
28:42
Jordyn Domio: experienced a lot of the things we're still going through now.
28:44
So it's nice to have that kind of sounding board of the background knowledge of.
28:48
we're
28:49
Jesse Hirsh: Hey, we're going through this right now.
28:50
Jordyn Domio: Well, they
28:51
Jesse Hirsh: Well, they
28:51
Jordyn Domio: the same thing in the nineties, so what
28:52
did they do in the nineties?
28:54
Can we change that and do that now?
28:56
We, with our organisation has been going on for 83 years now, so we do have
29:02
a lot of great people that have come
29:05
Jesse Hirsh: have,
29:05
Jordyn Domio: us, and I like to say
29:07
Jesse Hirsh: I like
29:07
Jordyn Domio: Junior farmers
29:08
Jesse Hirsh: farmers.
29:09
Jordyn Domio: Being something to be
29:10
Jesse Hirsh: Something to be proud.
29:11
Jordyn Domio: of it.
29:11
So a lot of our alumni still like, oh yeah, I was a junior
29:14
farmer back in the day.
29:15
And they still hold onto that and enjoy that.
29:17
Yes, they've moved on and most of them move on to do something in other.
29:21
In the ag sector, whether it's commodity groups, other farm
29:24
organisations or something, they all, most of our members move on
29:28
because you have learned that skills.
29:30
We don't wanna lose that talent.
29:31
So they, we find like they find places that they can use that talent elsewhere,
29:35
and then we still have them as.
29:36
resource to use when we need them.
29:38
And we have a lot, we have alumni events that we host every once in a while.
29:42
We do a lot of networking with our alumni where we'll bring them in
29:45
and they can meet the new people.
29:47
And our new people can meet the people who have done this and see, oh, what
29:50
has, how has junior farmers helped you in your life and in your career?
29:54
What have you done since that?
29:56
And with all the tools you learned here.
29:57
So it's nice to still have that connection to them.
29:59
And just because you've aged out doesn't mean you stop.
30:03
Being a junior farmer, you're always a junior farmer, but you just get
30:06
to use your talents elsewhere.
30:08
Jesse Hirsh: Right on.
30:09
Now let me indulge a, a kind of personal interest, which you know, seems relevant
30:15
given that we're talking about young people and it, you kind of reminded it
30:18
to me when you brought up the nineties.
30:20
'cause,
30:21
Jordyn Domio: because
30:21
Jesse Hirsh: know, as someone who was a young person in the
30:23
nineties, it was a different world.
30:25
There were parts of that world that I'd love to have back.
30:29
Most importantly, the idea that we were all disconnected, that we didn't
30:32
have smart phones, that no one knew what we were doing when we did it.
30:36
Jordyn Domio: it.
30:36
Jesse Hirsh: let me ask you the question that a lot of adults and old people
30:40
think about, which is young people in technology, young people in media, I, I
30:44
think there's often this false assumption.
30:47
That young people are automatically great at technology and
30:50
automatically great at media.
30:53
I'd love for you to address that, but more importantly, I'm curious as
30:57
to the role that social media, that technology plays in the kind of culture
31:03
of young farmers, whether that's different from the adult farmers or
31:08
you know, whether there's the same diversity that exists regardless of age.
31:12
Jordyn Domio: of age.
31:13
I'll be the
31:14
Jesse Hirsh: Probably the first to say, I am not tuned.
31:16
Jordyn Domio: so please
31:16
Jesse Hirsh: Please don't ask me to do anything.
31:18
Luckily there's other members of,
31:19
Jordyn Domio: who are, so I always outsource any
31:21
computer or IT issues to them.
31:23
So no, we're
31:24
Jesse Hirsh: no, we're not all amazing
31:26
Jordyn Domio: at technology to begin with.
31:28
There's definitely people who are.
31:29
Have a knack for it and are better at it, or
31:32
Jesse Hirsh: especially
31:32
Jordyn Domio: I am
31:33
Jesse Hirsh: not.
31:34
Jordyn Domio: I'm not a social media person.
31:35
I'm on it.
31:36
And I always say that I'm only on it because of work.
31:39
'cause all of the different organisations I'm with, you
31:40
need that social media presence.
31:42
'cause that is how you reach more people.
31:44
That's how you widen the scope of what you're working with.
31:47
So it's an important part, but.
31:49
Jesse Hirsh: But
31:49
Jordyn Domio: I'm
31:49
Jesse Hirsh: I'm not,
31:50
Jordyn Domio: I'm not gonna say I'm good at it.
31:51
I, I don't have TikTok.
31:53
I don't know how to do all of that stuff, but I love watching other
31:56
people's and I love seeing what people are doing with it because it's
31:59
amazing and it's an important part.
32:01
I do
32:02
Jesse Hirsh: I do think that
32:03
Jordyn Domio: something that the
32:04
Jesse Hirsh: the younger generation,
32:05
Jordyn Domio: to kind of latch onto and be like, oh,
32:07
Jesse Hirsh: oh.
32:07
Jordyn Domio: we can reach so many
32:09
Jesse Hirsh: So many
32:09
Jordyn Domio: because of this.
32:10
We can have.
32:11
We can be more efficient with our time because of this.
32:14
So yes, all of our
32:16
Jesse Hirsh: cards.
32:16
Jordyn Domio: meetings, we have a monthly exec meeting or we have
32:20
monthly meetings for our local clubs.
32:23
Half of them have moved online 'cause it makes it more accessible for
32:26
people to join in on those when you don't have to drive several hours.
32:29
Ontario is a very
32:31
Jesse Hirsh: a very big.
32:31
Jordyn Domio: It takes multiple hours to get anywhere.
32:34
Normally, especially when you're in the rural communities, you're
32:36
not just going down the street.
32:38
Everything's at least a two hour drive away.
32:41
So again, we
32:41
Jesse Hirsh: But again, we don't,
32:42
Jordyn Domio: so many hours in the day.
32:43
So I will say we've really been able to go forward with technology and making it
32:48
easier for getting to people and bringing people in, which I've loved and it's.
32:54
Jesse Hirsh: I
32:54
Jordyn Domio: bad
32:54
Jesse Hirsh: bad for.
32:55
Jordyn Domio: did this pre-internet where we didn't have Zoom or
33:00
messaging and all of that because it's so easy for us to do it now.
33:04
Jesse Hirsh: Now,
33:05
Jordyn Domio: I can't
33:05
Jesse Hirsh: I can't imagine
33:06
Jordyn Domio: it would've been for the people who did it in the seventies
33:08
Jesse Hirsh: that.
33:08
Jordyn Domio: to all of this.
33:09
I know at one point.
33:11
They used to do radio um, meetings where they would just have a radio
33:14
station where you could tune in and that's how they did our meetings
33:17
back in the seventies, which is
33:19
Jesse Hirsh: While
33:19
Jordyn Domio: imagine
33:19
Jesse Hirsh: could imagine
33:20
Jordyn Domio: I don't even know how to set that up these days.
33:21
So that's pretty cool that they had that technology and were
33:23
able to go with it back then.
33:25
But now it's,
33:26
Jesse Hirsh: now.
33:27
Jordyn Domio: our online meetings.
33:28
We have our online webinars.
33:30
We can communicate with the people in the east and the people
33:33
in the Southwest, no issues.
33:35
So I enjoy that.
33:36
And then, yes, the young people have really taken to, to social
33:40
media and across all platforms.
33:43
It's a great way to share what we're doing.
33:44
It's a great way to reach out to people who aren't in our immediate circles and
33:48
be like, Hey, this is what we're doing.
33:50
If you're interested, here's.
33:52
Of the platform in which to find us on here's how you can be a part of this.
33:55
And also seeing what other people are doing.
33:58
I have friends who just will sit there and scroll tractor videos
34:01
and 'cause that's what they enjoy.
34:03
And honestly, who doesn't enjoy watching a tractor go?
34:06
And it's really fun to see that
34:09
Jesse Hirsh: I, I, there, the only way that I can be a farmer is
34:12
because there are people on YouTube teaching me how to fix my tractor.
34:16
Jordyn Domio: tractor,
34:17
Jesse Hirsh: Otherwise I would be, uh, totally adrift.
34:21
Um, and, and to your larger point, I think that there is, uh.
34:25
Jordyn Domio: uh,
34:26
Jesse Hirsh: of culture around the way in which we learn that social media does
34:31
allow, and it's the intergenerational part that that interests me.
34:35
Jordyn Domio: me.
34:35
Jesse Hirsh: And I, I will of course selfishly say that podcasts
34:39
have both changed the long.
34:41
Jordyn Domio: the
34:41
Jesse Hirsh: A time I spend in a truck, uh, doing something as basic
34:45
as going to the feed store, but it also makes chores, uh, that much
34:50
more enjoyable 'cause I'm able to listen to conversations and content.
34:55
Now I, I want to use that as a, a transition to talk about policy
34:59
and talk about policy, both in an abstract sense and a specific sense.
35:04
I, I will say, as a kind of intro, what blows me away about the agricultural
35:09
sector is how many people care about policy, get engaged in policy, especially
35:15
compared to the general population where most people don't care about
35:18
policy at all until it's something sensational that affects them directly.
35:23
But people in ag tend to be really informed and really engaged.
35:28
Is that true at the, the young person level?
35:31
Like is, you know, does junior farmers talk about policy?
35:35
Do, are there young people who start thinking about whether it's environmental
35:39
policy, whether it's about farm policy, whether it's about trade policy?
35:43
I mean, give me a sense as to what the literacy and engagement levels are like.
35:48
Jordyn Domio: certain.
35:50
I will you, you get the people who are really into policy at from a young
35:54
age and they take it and run with it.
35:55
But I will say it goes back to people just might not have experienced
35:59
policy or policy development yet.
36:01
So luckily as junior farmers, we can give them that kind of insight into, oh, you
36:06
haven't, like, this hasn't come up in your daily life yet 'cause you're young.
36:10
But now that you're starting to get into the industry, this.
36:13
Nothing happens without policy.
36:15
Policy is the framework to make everything
36:17
Jesse Hirsh: Everything.
36:18
Jordyn Domio: So it's an important thing that you learn and we, we have a
36:21
policies and procedures committee where we not only discuss the policies of our
36:24
own organisation, but the policies going on at government or other things that
36:28
affect us in agriculture, and we have opinions on it, and we talk about it
36:33
and we make it more digestible to our members as well being like, Hey, this is
36:37
what's going on in the world right now.
36:38
This is why you should be listening to it, or This is what you
36:41
should be taking away from this.
36:43
So, no, it's Junior Farmers is really heavily involved in policy.
36:46
We're lucky that we have a bunch of great people who are either in the ag industry
36:51
or outside of the ag industry in policy development that are also part of us.
36:55
So it makes it easier to translate policy to people who haven't heard much about it
36:59
yet, or haven't had to experience it yet.
37:01
But it's that great tool that being a part of Junior Farmers you can get from is.
37:06
If we can teach you what you need to know, and then you can go out into
37:08
the world and you can develop policy or you can understand the policies
37:12
that are coming through, either through government or regulation.
37:16
Jesse Hirsh: Right on.
37:17
And uh, again, I just have to give you positive reinforcement, Jordyn, the extent
37:22
to which you just described the importance of policy and the fact that you're
37:26
telling other young people that, uh, a bravo only because policy gets a bad rap.
37:33
Like, a lot of people just think it's boring or it's things they don't want to
37:36
know about, but you framed it perfectly.
37:39
It's how we do things.
37:40
It, it enables us to do things.
37:42
It's, it's where things begin.
37:45
Jordyn Domio: Uh,
37:46
Jesse Hirsh: How did, how did you
37:47
Jordyn Domio: how did
37:47
Jesse Hirsh: get infected by such an optimistic or positive perspective?
37:51
'cause I wish more people kind of had that sense of agency,
37:55
that, that sense of, uh, freedom.
37:57
If I were to evoke the word.
37:59
To engage in an area that mo more people should be engaged in
38:03
Jordyn Domio: in.
38:05
I'm the kind of person where
38:06
Jesse Hirsh: where I love.
38:07
Jordyn Domio: manual.
38:07
I love, I don't want to have to figure out how to do everything the first time.
38:12
It's if there's a framework I can follow or if there's a step-by-step
38:15
process or instructions, it makes doing anything easier.
38:18
Yes, you have to go outside of that and do some exploration
38:21
and trial and error on your own.
38:22
But if you have a solid framework, everything gets easier 'cause
38:26
you're not wasting time thinking about different ways of doing.
38:29
It's, this is a way that works.
38:31
This is what's helping.
38:32
from there.
38:33
So I, I grew up with a mother in government and a father in engineering.
38:39
So we were a very policy driven household and it just, I was lucky
38:43
to be in, grow up in that environment and I kind of just had a knack for it.
38:46
And even now my partner's a lawyer, so he develops policy and so it's, we're a very
38:51
policy driven household to begin with, but going forward, it's nice to kind of have.
38:56
A starting off point or a jumping off point to know that this is how it works.
38:59
We can go from there.
39:00
And then that's
39:01
Jesse Hirsh: That
39:02
Jordyn Domio: development gets even more exciting is we already know
39:05
Jesse Hirsh: you already know how.
39:06
Jordyn Domio: can we find a way to make it better?
39:07
Can we find a way to make it more accessible or work
39:10
better with a changing time?
39:12
Policy development is so exciting 'cause you get to write the rules
39:15
essentially of how it's gonna work and how to benefit other people from it.
39:19
Jesse Hirsh: And, and allow me to repeat my positive reinforcement of your
39:23
attitude towards leadership, because most people who, uh, uh, are immersed in the
39:28
policy world the way you are in terms of citing your parents and your partner,
39:32
Jordyn Domio: your brother,
39:33
Jesse Hirsh: they tend to have an elitist attitude, right?
39:35
That policy is our domain and we should keep everyone else out of it.
39:39
Versus you're the opposite.
39:40
You're like, how do we infect people with the joy of policy?
39:44
So
39:45
Jordyn Domio: So
39:46
Jesse Hirsh: here's the billion dollar question.
39:47
Jordyn Domio: question.
39:48
Jesse Hirsh: entire episode has led up to this point.
39:51
Jordyn Domio: this
39:51
Jesse Hirsh: Here's the scenario.
39:52
Jordyn Domio: the scenario.
39:53
Jesse Hirsh: on a plane, you're coming back, let's say from
39:56
an Ag conference out west
39:58
Jordyn Domio: out
39:58
Jesse Hirsh: and sitting beside you is someone from the Prime Minister's office.
40:03
Jordyn Domio: office,
40:04
Jesse Hirsh: they kind of notice that you've got some conference material.
40:07
They realise that you're in the ag world and they say, Hey Jordyn, you know what?
40:11
We're working on this big ag policy framework, you know, and
40:15
Jordyn Domio: you
40:15
Jesse Hirsh: we're mobilising the government to try to think
40:17
of what's important when it comes to Canadian ag policy.
40:21
Jordyn Domio: policy.
40:22
Jesse Hirsh: you think?
40:22
Jordyn Domio: do you
40:22
Jesse Hirsh: What?
40:23
What would be your answer if you had that moment informally
40:26
to speak directly to power?
40:27
Jordyn Domio: to
40:28
Jesse Hirsh: Well, what are the kind of crazy ideas that you'd put in their ear?
40:31
Jordyn Domio: in their ears?
40:32
Well.
40:33
It goes back to what I said
40:34
Jesse Hirsh: I said earlier,
40:35
Jordyn Domio: are doing doing something
40:37
Jesse Hirsh: make something every day or the,
40:38
Jordyn Domio: learn from that 'cause.
40:39
They're the ones who see it, the ins and out of it.
40:41
They see it through, they know a lot about the topic that they're invested in.
40:45
So when it
40:46
Jesse Hirsh: so when it comes to
40:47
Jordyn Domio: it's nobody knows.
40:49
Agriculture better than the farmers.
40:51
So hearing their opinions or hearing what's gonna work for them, or how this
40:56
regulation's gonna affect them, that's the crucial part of developing ag policies.
41:01
We need actual farmers and producers involved in writing it because
41:06
Jesse Hirsh: Because
41:06
Jordyn Domio: anyone can develop policy, but you need that
41:10
agricultural background to know.
41:12
What this regulation is actually gonna mean, or how it's actually
41:15
gonna pan out to the farmer and how it's going to affect them.
41:18
And we need to know that, like right now
41:20
Jesse Hirsh: right now the big thing is.
41:21
Jordyn Domio: speed rail and like where are they gonna put that?
41:23
And everyone's concerned like, well, if you put it through my farm, I can
41:26
no longer reach half my field because we can't cross a high speed rail.
41:30
So that's a big issue that we've been talking about right
41:33
now because they're thinking,
41:34
Jesse Hirsh: thinking, oh, she just.
41:35
Jordyn Domio: land and we need to make it as straight as possible.
41:38
Great.
41:38
That open land is being used for food production and farming.
41:43
are the farmers gonna access their land if you put this high speed rail through it?
41:47
And that's kind of an issue.
41:48
So maybe talk to them about what works for them or like how to
41:50
best put in this rail system.
41:52
Like do we do o underpasses, overpasses?
41:55
How do we do this?
41:56
Right?
41:57
You need their
41:58
Jesse Hirsh: They're
41:58
Jordyn Domio: their voices on it.
41:59
So if every
42:01
Jesse Hirsh: every, I'm a
42:01
Jordyn Domio: front of a. Politician or anybody,
42:04
Jesse Hirsh: or anybody.
42:05
Jordyn Domio: have you asked the farmers what they want?
42:07
Have you asked their opinion on what you're doing?
42:09
Because they're gonna
42:10
Jesse Hirsh: They were gonna have
42:11
Jordyn Domio: They might agree with you,
42:12
Jesse Hirsh: pray with you.
42:13
Jordyn Domio: they might disagree with you, but they're gonna
42:15
have an insight into this.
42:17
Jesse Hirsh: Okay, so I'm gonna double down and to use the baseball metaphor
42:20
that I keep evoking, uh, uh, throughout this podcast, I, I'm, I'm gonna throw the
42:25
fastest pitch, the hardest pitch I can,
42:27
Jordyn Domio: pitch
42:28
Jesse Hirsh: although, to give you a moment to take a breath, I will,
42:30
as an aside say I think Altos did, I think the way which they approached
42:36
the, uh, lack of a consultation or the public relations side was so atrocious.
42:42
Jordyn Domio: so
42:42
Jesse Hirsh: That if they really want high-speed rail, they're gonna
42:44
have to rebrand and try again.
42:46
I digress.
42:48
Here's the big hard question.
42:50
Jordyn Domio: hard
42:50
Jesse Hirsh: I agree with you a hundred percent, Jordyn.
42:52
I think the problem right now with the federal government is they
42:56
don't understand consultation.
42:58
They don't understand
42:59
Jordyn Domio: don't
43:00
Jesse Hirsh: to do participatory policy development.
43:03
Jordyn Domio: development.
43:04
Jesse Hirsh: okay.
43:05
The PMO says Jordyn, the PMO official sitting beside you
43:08
on the plane says, Jordyn.
43:09
Yeah, you're absolutely right.
43:11
What's your pitch?
43:13
Jordyn Domio: What's your
43:13
Jesse Hirsh: What would the policy, the participatory policy
43:16
process that you describe?
43:18
Jordyn Domio: you described,
43:20
Jesse Hirsh: It's kind of against our culture of the federal government.
43:22
We're used to doing everything secretly and load, and then just
43:25
telling everyone how to do it.
43:27
Jordyn Domio: everyone how to
43:27
Jesse Hirsh: If we were to give you the resources, Jordyn,
43:29
what would you have us do?
43:31
Jordyn Domio: would you have us do?
43:33
You need to have advi, you need to have advisory groups.
43:36
You need to say, Hey, this is
43:37
Jesse Hirsh: This is what we're planning.
43:39
Jordyn Domio: front of a group of farmers and producers and say,
43:42
Hey, this is what we're planning.
43:43
What are your
43:44
Jesse Hirsh: What are your,
43:44
Jordyn Domio: this.
43:45
Impact.
43:45
You go from there.
43:47
Luckily, we have
43:48
Jesse Hirsh: have organisations already in place, whether.
43:51
Jordyn Domio: farmers or something else, where we have the people here
43:54
ready to give their opinion, if you ask.
43:56
So it's the federal or even the provincial government needs to reach out and be
44:00
like, Hey, this is what we're doing.
44:01
How does it affect agriculture?
44:02
And.
44:04
The ag industry will be the person in the room telling you, that's not gonna
44:08
work for us, or it would work for us
44:10
Jesse Hirsh: For us,
44:10
Jordyn Domio: this.
44:11
Having that
44:12
Jesse Hirsh: having that advice
44:13
Jordyn Domio: the advisory panels is crucial because is such a big
44:17
industry that it touches everything.
44:21
no
44:21
Jesse Hirsh: matter
44:22
Jordyn Domio: happens in policy or regulation or government,
44:25
we should have some, we should.
44:27
There should be a voice in the back room saying, Hey, but what about agriculture?
44:29
What's it gonna do?
44:31
We need to have.
44:32
That voice and they need to be asking us, Hey, how is this going to affect you?
44:38
Jesse Hirsh: Again, I agree a hundred percent.
44:41
But to carry out the role play, 'cause I'm, I'm kind of thinking
44:45
about what the response would be.
44:47
Jordyn Domio: the response would
44:48
Jesse Hirsh: I kind of think that they would react with fear.
44:51
Jordyn Domio: would react with
44:51
Jesse Hirsh: I kind of think that they would say, you know, Jordyn, you're right.
44:54
That would help us get a more, a legitimate.
44:57
Policy that would help us get a more effective policy that would actually
45:02
reflect kind of on the ground practises.
45:05
Jordyn Domio: practises scared.
45:07
Jesse Hirsh: Well, we, we like to control the process.
45:09
We like to control what people are saying.
45:11
Jordyn Domio: what
45:12
Jesse Hirsh: kind of involves us giving up control
45:15
Jordyn Domio: control as a
45:16
Jesse Hirsh: ah, we don't wanna do that.
45:17
Uh, how do you address the fear that we have in opening up such a process?
45:22
Jordyn Domio: such a problem?
45:24
Farmers are extremely reasonable people.
45:26
If you give them the outlet to tell you, they'll fight back on
45:29
you for less things because they'll have less reasons to oppose the
45:33
government you give them that out.
45:35
If you give them that outlet, gets easier because they will be willing
45:40
to work with you a hundred percent.
45:41
They're gonna do whatever's
45:42
Jesse Hirsh: Whatever,
45:43
Jordyn Domio: farm and their industry.
45:44
So they'll come and they'll play ball.
45:46
They will work with you if you give them that opportunity to do so.
45:50
All that
45:50
Jesse Hirsh: and all that will be down the line.
45:52
Is they
45:52
Jordyn Domio: to pass
45:53
Jesse Hirsh: out?
45:53
Jordyn Domio: it easier to integrate things better because you already have
45:57
them here willing to work with you.
46:00
So
46:00
Jesse Hirsh: Absolutely.
46:02
Jordyn Domio: but it would make so much, it would make everything easier.
46:06
Jesse Hirsh: Absolutely brilliant answer and, and I think that that
46:08
is exactly the value proposition, that they're afraid because they've
46:13
been doing things the wrong way, and that's why there's hostility.
46:16
Jordyn Domio: why
46:17
Jesse Hirsh: But as soon as they start the conversation, things get easier.
46:21
Jordyn Domio: things
46:21
Jesse Hirsh: Right things get more friendly, things, get more respectful
46:24
because, uh, correct me if I'm wrong, that has been the model of engagement
46:29
within the sector all along, that people don't always get along.
46:32
That there are often differences, but when you get people in the same
46:36
room kind of look eye to eye, it's easier to find commonality rather than
46:40
Jordyn Domio: to find commonality rather
46:41
Jesse Hirsh: on differences.
46:43
Jordyn Domio: Very much agree, and I'll even say it that
46:45
translates into just being a
46:47
Jesse Hirsh: Being
46:47
Jordyn Domio: farmer
46:48
Jesse Hirsh: farmer,
46:49
Jordyn Domio: is, yes, we're in the rooms and people like having us and
46:52
Jesse Hirsh: having
46:52
Jordyn Domio: us off, but there's often that time where they don't
46:55
take the opinion of the young person because it's like, oh,
46:57
well we've been doing this longer.
46:59
We know better.
47:00
So it's like, well, maybe young people would be more interested in
47:03
joining your organisations or being a part of the industry if you gave
47:06
them that outlet and you worked with them instead of having that
47:09
Jesse Hirsh: that zero
47:11
Jordyn Domio: We know
47:11
Jesse Hirsh: oh.
47:12
Jordyn Domio: we're gonna do what we want.
47:13
Well, you want the
47:15
Jesse Hirsh: You want the young people in the industry, you don't
47:17
take their opinion seriously.
47:19
Jordyn Domio: working with them and taking their opinions seriously, it'll be so much
47:22
Jesse Hirsh: So much easier down the road,
47:24
Jordyn Domio: things or to have new ideas.
47:25
So embracing the young people in our industry.
47:28
Is gonna be the best way to move it forward because there's more
47:31
people thinking of solutions.
47:32
There's more people working to a common goal,
47:36
Jesse Hirsh: basically
47:37
Jordyn Domio: people are a
47:37
Jesse Hirsh: hard,
47:38
Jordyn Domio: everyone should be
47:38
Jesse Hirsh: everybody's having.
47:40
Jordyn Domio: it helps with just the continuity of your organisation or of
47:42
your industry when you're constantly bringing in the people, giving them the
47:46
support and putting them in the leadership roles that they deserve to be in, or
47:50
that they've worked and shown that they believe that they're gonna be good in.
47:54
Jesse Hirsh: Well, and, and let's take a moment as we wrap
47:57
to try to operationalize that.
47:59
What, what would be the, the, the tips or the one or two things that you would
48:03
advise an agricultural organisation, an association, whether a broad one
48:09
or a specific one that wants to have better youth engagement, that wants
48:13
to have a, a more youth participation.
48:16
What are the tangible things they can do to, to make that happen?
48:20
Jordyn Domio: to make that happen?
48:22
Reaching out
48:23
Jesse Hirsh: Reaching out
48:23
Jordyn Domio: people is the best way to do that.
48:25
Like having.
48:26
A seat at the table for them through junior farmers.
48:30
We've been lucky to work with the
48:32
Jesse Hirsh: Ontario,
48:32
Jordyn Domio: of Agriculture or the Christian Farmers, um, of Ontario,
48:35
that we can have one of our people in their local rooms, or we've done a lot
48:39
of things where they're having an A GM where we'll send people to be there.
48:42
We'll go to Lobby Day with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.
48:45
We'll send our young people with them so that
48:48
Jesse Hirsh: That they're integrative with what they're doing,
48:50
Jordyn Domio: seeing what we're doing,
48:52
Jesse Hirsh: doing
48:52
Jordyn Domio: those connections is the best way to bring us in.
48:55
And if they give us the option to be in their circles, we'll, like we have
48:59
people lined up, ready to go, we'll happily send someone to be a part
49:03
of their organisation so we can take
49:04
Jesse Hirsh: feedback,
49:06
Jordyn Domio: information and bring it to us.
49:08
But then as
49:08
Jesse Hirsh: but as well as, hey.
49:09
Jordyn Domio: we have a slew of young people ready to go and
49:11
ready to act on these things.
49:14
Just give them the opportunity and they'll be there.
49:17
Jesse Hirsh: Right on.
49:18
Uh, is there anything we didn't talk about today, uh, that
49:22
you think we should address?
49:23
Anything that you think is pressing, uh, in the ag sector
49:26
or ignored and underemphasized that, that we should talk about
49:30
Jordyn Domio: we should talk about.
49:32
I think just the utilisation of young people is we are here, we
49:36
are eager, we have our youth, we have our health, we're ready to
49:39
Jesse Hirsh: Ready to go?
49:40
Jordyn Domio: Using that, using us as a resource is the best way to help.
49:44
All organisations 'cause we're ready to
49:46
Jesse Hirsh: Ready to go
49:48
Jordyn Domio: is always an issue.
49:48
'cause yes, you have all of these people with all of great resources,
49:51
but you either you age out, you move on, you go to something different
49:54
and then you lose that knowledge set.
49:56
Well the younger you start
49:57
Jesse Hirsh: you
49:58
Jordyn Domio: the longer
49:58
Jesse Hirsh: the longer you.
49:59
Jordyn Domio: more you can use that and get their knowledge and cont use
50:03
them continuously through that, the better we can be invested in an industry
50:07
that we've spent our entire lives in.
50:09
So utilising the young people, reaching out.
50:12
Infinite.
50:12
Like we don't have infinite resources.
50:14
Everything costs money.
50:15
Everything takes time.
50:16
Taking that into consideration, if you want to support young people, you need
50:21
to support young people in agriculture.
50:23
If you wanna use them, we need, we need to work together to be able to do that.
50:28
Jesse Hirsh: Right on.
50:28
Right on.
50:29
Absolutely.
50:29
And, and I think a key point you made was to actually do the outreach
50:33
Jordyn Domio: do
50:33
Jesse Hirsh: and invite them
50:34
Jordyn Domio: and
50:35
Jesse Hirsh: and not just expect them to show up but actually entice them to come.
50:39
Jordyn Domio: them
50:39
Jesse Hirsh: Uh, 'cause they do have limited time.
50:41
Jordyn Domio: limited
50:42
Jesse Hirsh: do have competing, uh, priorities.
50:43
So you do want to make.
50:44
Them valued.
50:45
Jordyn Domio: make
50:45
Jesse Hirsh: So the last question that I like to end the podcast on is
50:49
the shout outs part of the, uh, show.
50:52
Uh, who are the leaders who inspire you, whether past or present tense?
50:56
Who are the folks that you kind of pay attention to who you think the rest
51:00
of us should be paying attention to?
51:02
Jordyn Domio: should be paying attention to?
51:05
No, I
51:06
Jesse Hirsh: I definitely think
51:08
Jordyn Domio: To plug
51:09
Jesse Hirsh: the plus junior farmers.
51:10
Jordyn Domio: we have a bunch of great people who are doing things.
51:13
We are a group of 15 to
51:15
Jesse Hirsh: 15 to 30-year-old
51:17
Jordyn Domio: Ontario.
51:17
We have local clubs in almost every region.
51:20
So if someone wants to be involved, they can be.
51:22
We have a lot of great people who are doing great.
51:24
Things and then
51:25
Jesse Hirsh: and
51:26
Jordyn Domio: on.
51:26
I was
51:27
Jesse Hirsh: I lucky.
51:27
Jordyn Domio: OFA really helped me and really gave me the tools to kind
51:31
of move throughout the ag industry.
51:33
As I, as I have.
51:34
I had some really great professors at school, um, that saw my talent and saw
51:40
my interest in it and was like, Hey.
51:42
You should do more with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture 'cause
51:45
they're gonna give you that platform.
51:46
And then I, luckily I went to my local OFA meeting
51:51
Jesse Hirsh: Meeting
51:52
Jordyn Domio: I was the
51:52
Jesse Hirsh: and youngest
51:53
Jordyn Domio: female in the
51:54
Jesse Hirsh: female in the room, they're like, Hey, what's
51:56
Jordyn Domio: And the first meeting
51:57
Jesse Hirsh: first meeting?
51:57
I showed up.
51:58
Jordyn Domio: getting elected as a local director with our
52:00
Niagara Federation of Agriculture.
52:02
And I've been on that for years now.
52:04
And then.
52:04
Through my work with them, they
52:06
Jesse Hirsh: They were like.
52:07
Jordyn Domio: we used to have this thing called junior farmers back in the day.
52:10
You're young enough.
52:10
It was a very good thing.
52:12
And I'm like, cool, I'll look into that.
52:13
And then I did that and I've managed to work my way to the point where I'm
52:16
now the president of that organisation and it's just amazing that we're all
52:22
interconnected and there's always someone willing to champion you.
52:25
As long as you're dedicated and willing to put in the work,
52:28
someone will be there to help you.
52:30
Jesse Hirsh: Right on.
52:31
Right on.
52:31
Thank you very much.
52:32
Well, uh, this has been a, a fantastic tour to force.
52:36
Uh, uh, if anything, you offer a, a model of leadership that is
52:41
both generous but also ambitious.
52:45
And quite frankly, that is exactly the kind of leadership.
52:48
In our sector that we need to the point of making policy fun and imaginative.
52:53
Jordyn Domio: imagine,
52:54
Jesse Hirsh: that in and of itself is a kind of revolutionary act.
52:57
And here's the ask Jordyn.
52:59
I mean, the whole point of the future herd is we don't want to just do one-offs
53:03
and find incredible people like yourself and be like, Hey, how's it going?
53:06
Okay, goodbye.
53:07
Jordyn Domio: it
53:07
Jesse Hirsh: Uh, we wanna bring it back.
53:09
We want to have panels and group discussions and get you
53:11
helping us to find other leaders.
53:13
Is that something you'd be down for?
53:15
Jordyn Domio: You'd be down for, of course, it's.
53:18
The best
53:19
Jesse Hirsh: So that's part of being in the dentistry is.
53:21
Jordyn Domio: talent that's there and being in a position where I get to help
53:25
foster and find those people is amazing.
53:28
Whether it's through Junior farmers or OFA or I do a lot of speaking at high
53:32
schools to people about agriculture being like, Hey, look how fun agriculture is.
53:36
Look how fun ag policy development is when you get to be the ones setting
53:40
the rules and like coming up with the new ways to make things better.
53:43
It's so exciting.
53:45
A puzzle that never ends and it's amazing.
53:47
So yes, no, this is my favourite part of my job is the outreach
53:51
and the finding of new people.
53:52
I'm happy to do, give me the platform, I will do it.
53:55
I love it.
53:57
Jesse Hirsh: Right on that.
53:58
Fantastic.
53:59
Well, thanks again, Jordyn.
54:00
This has been a fantastic episode and we will definitely have to do this again.
54:04
Jordyn Domio: definitely have to do this.
54:06
Thank you very much.
54:07
This was amazing and yeah, I've enjoying to, I've enjoyed hearing all of them
54:11
so far, so looking forward to more.
54:16
Jesse Hirsh: There's a tendency to talk about the next generation as if
54:19
it's waiting somewhere fully formed.
54:22
Just needing a Domior to open this conversation makes that idea feel flimsy.
54:29
What Jordyn points to instead, without ever quite spelling it
54:34
out, is that there isn't a next generation sitting in reserve.
54:39
Instead, there are only partial trajectories, people who got a
54:43
glimpse early and people who didn't, people who were pulled in, and
54:48
people who learn to look elsewhere.
54:51
The difference isn't ambition, it's proximity opportunity.
54:57
And proximity is designed, not formally, not through policy, but through habits,
55:04
through culture, through who gets brought along to a meeting, who gets trusted
55:10
with something small, who gets spoken to as if their perspective already counts.
55:16
If there's something unresolved at the end of this episode, it's this.
55:21
The sector keeps asking how to bring people in while continuing to reproduce
55:26
the conditions that keep most people out.
55:30
Jordyn doesn't offer a fix, but she does leave us with a sense of discomfort,
55:36
a sense that the future isn't blocked, but it is quietly being filtered and
55:42
that filter is close enough to touch.
55:45
But this is why I think we have ample room for hope and dare I say it, even optimism.
55:51
More and more people are interested in their food and where their
55:55
food comes from, and the people who help make that food possible.
56:00
Fundamentally, this isn't about sharing stories with them or even
56:04
necessarily being transparent.
56:07
Instead, this is about engaging people.
56:10
On their terms, in their spaces using their language.
56:15
And that's why I think leaders like Jordyn represent an incredible opportunity
56:21
to not just strengthen the existing assets of the sector, but to invite new
56:27
people to the table, to invite a whole lot more young people to the table so
56:33
that maybe we have new ideas, new ways of doing things that benefit everyone.
56:39
Now one last note before we end.
56:42
Uh, I have, as I mentioned last time, been playing with the
56:45
intro music and the outro music.
56:48
It looks like so far we're a go.
56:51
So, uh, if anyone wants to, uh, tweet or hit me up on social media
56:56
and I identify the songs that we're currently using and why.
57:01
Uh, there'll be a toy inside a prize for you.
57:05
So we'll see if anyone has the leadership, uh, to take me up on this challenge.
57:10
Until next time, uh, we'll see you here on the future Herd.
57:15
Uh.