Johansson excited for IFAJ's return to Canada

By Becky Zimmer

Lena Johansson’s first IFAJ Congress was in the Czechia as a young agriculture journalist in 1995.
This just goes to show that everyone has to start somewhere as the current president of IFAJ has been to over 20 congresses even before she started to get involved with the IFAJ executive.
“It's a very good experience to meet colleagues from other countries and learn how agriculture is working there. Since I've been traveling a lot and seeing farmers in a lot of countries, I see that they have a lot in common, but they also have lots of differences.”
Johansson attended the congress in Guelph in 2011 and is always excited to come back to Canada, especially now for Olds 2023.
While she doesn’t know much about western agriculture, Johansson knows there is going to be a lot of difference from one side of the country to the other.
Whether country to country, or even from one Canadian coast to another as Johansson noted, there are many similarities; the challenges of production even though climates and governments may vary all the way to the farmers themselves, no matter where they are, are always polite and easy to talk with, she said.
The more important similarity Johansson sees is that agriculture impacts everyone on a global scale and food security is the biggest issue facing the world right now.
“Many people don't realize that, but we all need food. So everybody should actually be interested in agriculture.”
Johansson, along with the rest of the IFAJ Presidium will be welcoming you to Olds in 2023.