Congressman Bill Johnson (R-Marietta) spoke with Columbiana County freshman and sophmore students Thursday at the Columbiana County Agricultural Career Expo in Lisbon. (Salem News photo by Kristi Garabrandt)

LISBON –Congressman Bill Johnson (R-Marietta) spoke to high school students on several topics during the Columbiana County Agricultural Career Expo held Thursday at the Columbiana County Fairgrounds. Over 400 students were expected.

During the expo, freshmen and sophomores from all Columbiana County schools were given the opportunity to explore the variety of agricultural careers in and around Columbiana County and to take advantage of professional development opportunities such as resume building and preparing for interviews and meet Johnson.

Johnson spoke to students on the importance of agriculture in Ohio and the role they could play as future leaders in government. Johnson told students that like many of them he was born on a farm and that every day was a survival day. He also told students his family grew everything they ate.

“I grew up in a heavy agricultural family and I’m telling you the agricultural business — the agricultural industry in America is vitally vitally important to our survival,” Johnson said.

He told students there is more to the agricultural industry than being a farmer. Farming is a big part of it but there is so much more such as the production, distribution, research and development, innovation and finding new ways of farming in addition to animal husbandry and ranching. These fields are all wrapped up in the agricultural industry which is a great industry to be a part of.

Johnson informed the students that in the United States, 98% percent of the farms are family-owned farms and that 88% of production comes from family farms. He then went on to tell them that the cereal, sausage, eggs or toast they had for breakfast probably came from a family farm somewhere in the United States.

“It’s important that you understand the value of America’s agricultural industry because America by a large margin, feeds not only our country, but the rest of the world,” Johnson said. “We do the research and innovation to teach other countries how to care for themselves, how to grow their own food and how to raise their own livestock.”

Johnson went on to tell the students that speaking to them is one of the most fun parts of his job because he knows that they will become the nation’s future leaders.

“Sooner or later, actually, sooner than you think, you are going to get the reins of leadership, the question is what kind of leader are you going to be,” he said.

He told the students that the country is in perpetual design and every generation will get its turn to be charge.

“One of these days, I’m going to walk out of my office in Washington D.C. and I won’t be coming back and when I do it’s going to be up to some of you to thrown you hat in the ring and become the next generation of leaders, to write the next great chapter of our nation’s history,” Johnson said. “The question is, what will your chapter look like.”

kgarabrandt@mojonews.com