Florida’s Young Farmers & Ranchers (YF&R) Leadership Group took home top honors at the American Farm Bureau FUSION Conference in Jacksonville last weekend. They received the Harvest for All awards in two categories: the most pounds of food donated, with 18.7 million pounds, and the most volunteer hours, with 6,400 hours. Donation efforts included food drives, fundraisers and gleaning activities. Volunteer hours included collecting and delivering food and supplies to their local communities impacted by Hurricane Ian and other tropical storms.
Florida YF&R Collegiate member Maddie Dvorak won the 2023 AFBF YF&R Collegiate Discussion Meet. Dvorak is a senior at the University of Florida studying international food and resource economics. She took home the state honor at Florida Farm Bureau’s Annual Meeting last October before advancing to the national competition.
Members of Florida’s Women’s Leadership Committee participated in the three-day conference by volunteering with competitive events and agricultural tours throughout the weekend.
Jarad Plair, past president of the Florida YF&R Class 8 Leadership Group, retired from his term on the AFBF YF&R Leadership Committee. Kevin Lussier, a current member on the Florida YF&R Class 9 Leadership Group, was selected to serve on the 2023-2024 AFBF YF&R Leadership Committee.
