Young Farmer and Rancher Update
Susan Wilkins, YF&R Vice-chair
The American Farm Bureau
Federation’s Annual Convention
always comes just when I need
it the most. After the holidays
are over and we are truly in
the grips of winter, Annual
Convention rolls around and
I have an excuse to escape the
mud/snow/ice/rain for a few days and see another
part of the country.
This year,
the 70 degree
weather in
San Antonio
was much
appreciated
after the -10
degree weather
we experienced
in Pocahontas
County only
a couple days
before!! The
highlight for
West Virginia’s
Young Farmers and Ranchers was the Discussion
Meet. Kacey Orr, a member of the Ohio-Brooke
Farm Bureau, won the state contest in November
and did a fantastic job representing us on the
national level. 41 states had folks in the Discussion
Meet this year; but only 16 made it past the first
two rounds of discussion. Kacey’s cumulative
rankings placed her in this group, known as the
“Sweet Sixteen.” Kacey raises vegetables, fruits,
and chickens on her farm in Triadelphia; selling her
products at farmers’ markets in three states. Joe
Hatton put in many hours coaching Kacey for the
competition and we thank him for his commitment
and support of the Young Farmer program.
While most of the West Virginia delegation took
in workshops, sessions, and maybe even some
sightseeing, I was busy working behind the scenes
with my fellow AFBF Young Farmer and Rancher
14 West Virginia Farm Bureau News
Committee members ensuring that our three
competitive events ran smoothly. On Monday, I
had the honor of chairing the Final Four Discussion
Meet. I wasn’t competing in the contest, but
speaking in the huge Lila Cockrell Theatre was still
a little nerve-wracking!
One of the highlights of my six days in San
Antonio was visiting a school in New Braunfels to
promote agricultural literacy. Each year before the
Annual Convention officially begins, the national
committee reads
to students at
a local school
and presents
an agriculture
lesson. We
paired off to
visit twelve
different
classrooms and
were able to
reach over 200
children with
our message.
Many of these
kids had never met or even seen a farmer before, so
it was a pretty neat experience to tell them that we
were the people who produced their hamburgers
and milk.
Reading to school children is, perhaps, one of
the easiest ways to share our story. It takes only a
few minutes and most teachers are eager to let guest
readers come into their classrooms. The excitement
and interest shown by the students I read to gave me
a real sense of accomplishment. I encourage you
to think about reading to a class (or two or three!)
in your own community. If you need help selecting
an “accurate ag” book, the American Farm Bureau
Foundation has a wonderful searchable database and
list of recommended books available online at www.
agfoundation.org/bookdb.