Back
Nov 21, 2024
By Jody Shee
There’s nothing like spending extended time overseas to change a young person’s farm and world perspective. That’s partially what the International Farm Youth Exchange (IFYE) program was organized to do when it was founded in 1948 with roots in 4-H.
Today the exchange program is administered by the IFYE Association of the USA Inc. and no longer tied directly to 4-H, though many of the participants grew up in 4-H. IFYE sends young adults ages 18-30 around the world on three- or six-month programs where they stay with host families and participate in their daily lives and operations.
“We’ve been in 80 countries, though currently we have 20 countries we do exchanges with,” says IFYE president Carolyn Hansen. Alumni are affectionately called IFYEs. Back in the day, Hansen was an IFYE herself traveling from Ohio to the Philippines. As IFYE president, she works with a board of directors who set priorities and programs for the organization. In 2024, IFYE is sending four young adults to Chile for three months. In return, that country will send young adults to the U.S. The program has always been as much about “inbound” as “outbound” participants, Hansen says. Between them, she estimates there are about 7,500 alumni.
IFYE’s founding moto is promoting “Peace Through Understanding.” This outlook will never change, especially now when peace is more needed than ever, Hansen says, adding that these cultural exchanges are a better way of learning about countries than having war with them. Several alumni share their IFYE experiences.
ASA CEO Steve Censky and his wife, Carmen, met during an IFYE orientation.
IFYE international youth exchanges foster lasting relationships, exemplified by ASA CEO Steve Censky and his wife Carmen. In 1985, while working on Capitol Hill for South Dakota Senator Jim Abdnor, Steve took a 9-month leave of absence for an IFYE exchange to Taiwan and China. At the same time, Carmen prepared for a 6-month exchange to Norway. They met during a required orientation in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and their romance subsequently blossomed at the National 4-H Council in Washington, D.C., where Carmen worked as a program assistant and Steve frequently participated in meetings.
Carmen’s interest in travel and meeting people from diverse backgrounds was sparked when her family hosted a Norwegian IFYE during her middle school years. Thus, it was fortuitous that she was able to go on an exchange to Norway. “The opportunity to be an IFYE made a huge impact on my work career and time working at 4-H and for me personally,” she says.
While on the IFYE exchange to Norway, Carmen attended the wedding of the exchange student her family hosted, and she in turn attended Carmen and Steve’s wedding. They have maintained close relationships through the years, and on a trip to Norway this summer, they toasted their nearly 40-year-long friendship.
Professionally, Steve credits his IFYE experiences in East Asia with providing a global perspective crucial to his subsequent role as USDA Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and in his first (21-year) and second stints as ASA CEO.
In China, he recognized the deficiency in agricultural research and innovation. “China was spending hardly any on ag research. They viewed the U.S. as the leader in that,” he says, continuing, “For that reason, at the USDA as deputy secretary, I led an ag innovation agenda initiative to boost ag research and innovation.”
Jackson Tubbs of Delmer, Iowa, visits a dairy cattle field in Germany along the coast of the North Sea. Tubbs is a second-generation participant in the IFYE program.
Jackson Tubbs, 26, expanded his horizons from the family soybean farm in Delmer, Iowa, to four locales in Germany for three months in 2022. Between his IFYE hosts, he dabbled in life on a dairy farm, two traditional crop farms and a solar panel company combined with an opportunity to work on an ostrich farm.
He’s indebted to his father, Joel Tubbs, who went on an IFYE exchange to the United Kingdom in 1992 and encouraged him to apply. “I came back with a better view of the world and myself. I knew I wanted to be more involved in farming and agriculture,” he says. “What matters more than anything else is the family farm.”
Jackson also now realizes that the current global focus on sustainability needs to exist in balance with productivity. In Germany, the prevalent ag industry conversation at the time focused on organic farming. “But you may lose yield, and then, will you be able to feed everyone?”
He appreciated his non-tourist time in Germany, living the farm life of his adoptive families, whose agricultural outlook mirrored his own in Iowa. “At the end of day, their problems are just like ours,” he says.
Meghan O’Reilly, 25, from Parkman, Ohio, spent three months in Taiwan and another three months in Zambia in 2023, gaining distinct experiences. In Taiwan, she admired the efficient use of land on the island. Living with six host families, she explored rice cultivation, pest control, organic chicken farming and the production of coffee, tea and tropical fruits. “They want to be self-sustaining rather than import everything,” she says.
Meghan O’Reilly of Parkman, Ohio, visits a warehouse in Taiwan filled with USA and Canadian food grade soybeans to be made into tofu.
In Zambia, her experience slowed down, with two of three host families introducing her to agricultural education. She participated in classes teaching locals farming techniques for things like oat processing and dairy preservation methods like yogurt and cheese making. Another host family managed a tobacco and stone fruit farm.
Meghan chose Africa, inspired by her father and soybean grower Kevin O’Reilly, who had an IFYE exchange in Botswana 30 years earlier. Currently a graphic designer, she aspires to specialize in agricultural design, helping companies to create and design a consumer-appealing brand. “Design is a great way to explain the process of how their product comes to be,” she says.
The IFYE experience was a leap outside her comfort zone, but for herself and others, Meghan notes, “The people you meet will impact your life on a daily basis and you will forever have families all around the world.”
The value of IFYE comes into focus when you realize that 96% of the world population lives outside the U.S., says ASA CEO Steve Censky. “That represents a great market for us in the ag business. If we are going to be successful in serving that market, we need leaders of tomorrow who have a good appreciation for that, along with cultural awareness and experiences.”
