July 2024
With a hunger to grow their leadership skills and desire to meet other young professionals, more than 200 agriculturalists gathered in West Palm Beach for the 2024 Young Farmers and Ranchers Leadership Conference July 12-14. The conference offered motivational speakers, intense competitions and breakout sessions that pushed individuals to hone their leadership skills and farming operations.
The YF&R Leadership Group worked diligently to ensure the 2024 conference would be the best one yet, and they did not disappoint. The team focused on offering breakout sessions that would add value to a farmer or rancher’s lifestyle. Attendees learned how to improve their mental health, a variety of ways to cook beef, become more engaged in county YF&R programs and how to diversify your farm.
Members had the option to attend a farm tour. Between Milking R Dairy in Okeechobee and Erickson Farms in Palm Beach, attendees experienced the diversification of agriculture in South Florida.
Tucker Brown, a sixth-generation rancher at R.A. Brown Ranch in Throckmorton, Texas was the keynote speaker. Brown is passionate about developing a succession plan for family farms and emphasized its importance to the young audience. He shared his social media success and how crucial it is to identify your target audience with the message you are sharing. Attendees were encouraged to learn of the opportunities within social media to tell agriculture’s story.
Finalists were chosen for the Achievement in Agriculture award, Excellence in Agriculture award and the Discussion Meet. All finalists will compete at the Florida Farm Bureau State Annual Meeting in San Destin, Oct. 30- Nov. 1, 2024, for the state title.
The 2024 Achievement in Agriculture Award finalists are:
Buck and Nora Beth Carpenter, Madison County
Brandt and Samantha Hendricks, Santa Rosa County
The Achievement in Agriculture Award recognizes members who physically and financially excel in their farming operation, leadership abilities and participation in Farm Bureau and other civic and service organizations. Each Achievement in Agriculture award finalist will undergo an on-site farm visit by a team of qualified judges as part of the final selection process. The winner will be announced at the state annual meeting in October.
The 2024 Excellence in Agriculture Award finalists are:
Katie Quincey, Gilchrist County
Kalan Royal, Hardee County
Marshal and Taylor Sewell, Levy County
The Excellence in Agriculture Award is based on an applicant’s involvement in agriculture, leadership ability and participation in Farm Bureau and other civic organizations. Each Excellence in Agriculture award finalist will make a presentation to a panel of qualified judges at the Florida Farm Bureau Annual Meeting in October.
The 2024 Discussion Meet finalists are:
John Jones, Gilchrist County
Jesse Cone, Madison County
Aaron Bruce, Manatee County
Chad Hass, Volusia County
The Discussion Meet contest is designed to simulate a committee meeting during which discussion and active participation are expected from each participant. This competition is evaluated on an exchange of ideas and information on a pre-determined topic.
The four finalists will compete in a Final Four competition round at the Florida Farm Bureau Annual Meeting in October.
In addition to these outstanding finalists being named, 11 attendees were awarded $250 scholarships to attend the conference. The recipients were:
Samantha Hendricks, Santa Rosa County
Jacob Nixon, Okaloosa County
Jonathon Majors, Okaloosa County
Christina Routh, Marion County
Judd Williams, Marion County
Katelyn Lee, Putnam/St. Johns County
Katie Caren, Bradford County
Hunter Bonner, Polk County
Samantha Smith, Martin County
Duncan Sikeema, Manatee County
Adam Towpik, Palm Beach County
Twenty-four counties went above and beyond to qualify for the 2023 Young Farmers and Ranchers Activity Award. This award recognizes counties that provide opportunities to members to grow in their leadership capabilities, give back to the community and educate others about agriculture.
Award recipients were Alachua, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Duval, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando/Citrus, Highlands, Jefferson, Lafayette, Levy, Madison, Marion, Nassau, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Putnam/St. Johns, Suwannee, Taylor and Volusia.
The YF&R Leadership Group Class President, Tyler Shadrick, shared with conference attendees how successful they were in American Farm Bureau’s Harvest for All program. Florida was recognized at the AFBF YF&R Conference in March as the state that took home top honors with the most pounds of food donated and most volunteer hours. Members donated more than 24 million pounds of food to local food pantries and tallied 15,000 volunteer hours to solving food insecurities.
Additionally, young farmers and ranchers raised more than $1,700 at the conference to donate to an FFA chapter in the Palm Beach area.
Members are looking forward to the 2025 conference that will be held July 11-13 at the World Golf Village Renaissance St. Augustine Resort.