Ag News
GFB YF&R winners gearing up for national competition at AFBF
Posted on Jan 05, 2022 at 0:00 AM
Spalding County Farm Bureau members Steven and Tara Green, Morgan County Farm Bureau member Jessica Lance and Floyd County Farm Bureau member Cleveland Jackson are off to Atlanta to compete for national honors in American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Young Farmers & Ranchers (YF&R) competitive events, which will be held during the AFBF Annual Convention that begins Jan. 8.
The Greens, who won the Georgia Farm Bureau (GFB) 2021 Young Farmers & Ranchers Achievement Award during the GFB Young Farmers & Ranchers Leadership Conference last July, will compete with other state Achievement Award winners from around the country. The Achievement Award recognizes farmers and ranchers between the ages of 18 and 35 who earn the majority of their income from production agriculture.
The Greens raise broilers and cattle, grow hay and you-pick flowers, and sell and spread chicken litter. Steven is vice president of Spalding County Farm Bureau and chairs the GFB Poultry Commodity Committee. Tara has served on the SCFB YF&R, Women’s Leadership, and Promotion & Education committees since 2014.
Lance will vie for the AFBF Excellence in Agriculture Award.
Lance, who won the Georgia Farm Bureau 2021 Young Farmers & Ranchers Excellence in Agriculture Award during the GFB YF&R Leadership Conference, faces off with other state winners from around the country.
The Excellence in Agriculture Award recognizes an individual or couple for their involvement in Farm Bureau and agriculture and their leadership ability. Ideal candidate(s) for this award do not make the majority of their income from farming. However, the award is not solely based on the applicant(s)’ occupation.
Lance grew up working on her parents’ produce farm in South Carolina. After teaching school for two years, she returned home to manage the family’s agricultural trucking business. This experience led Lance in 2017 to start her own logistics company that hauls raw grains from farms to processors and livestock feed to feed mills and farmers. Her company, The Go Ag Group, also hauls fertilizers, biosolids and landscape products. Lance and her husband, Brian, started a Red Angus cow-calf operation in 2019. She is an active member of the MCFB YF&R Committee, for which she has served as treasurer since 2017.
Jackson is set to compete in the AFBF Discussion Meet.
Jackson, who won the Georgia Farm Bureau 2021 Young Farmers & Ranchers Discussion Meet during the GFB YF&R Leadership Conference, faces off with other state winners from around the country.
The discussion meet is set up in rotating groups of competitors who hold a committee-style conversation on preselected topics relating to agriculture and Farm Bureau. Questions contestants will address during the AFBF competition include how Farm Bureau can increase participation in its YF&R programs, how to ensure long-term economic viability for livestock processing while ensuring employee health, how to promote good mental health for farmers and rural communities, preventative on-farm safety measures, and how to continue increasing efficiency while transitioning to alternative sources of energy for use on the farm.
Jackson, who serves as Floyd County Farm Bureau vice president, is a sales representative for Elanco Animal Health’s poultry products and runs a commercial cow/calf operation.
Participants for all of the AFBF YF&R Awards will compete for the following prizes:
• Winner (first place) - A new Ford truck or vehicle valued at $35,000 courtesy of Ford Motor Company and paid registration to the AFBF YF&R Leadership Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, February 25 - 28;
• Runner-up (second place) - A Case IH Farmall 50A tractor valued at $27,699 courtesy of Case IH;
• Third place - A Case IH 40” Combination Roll Cabinet & Top Chest valued at $3,035, a $2,500 Investing in Your Future cash prize, courtesy of American Agricultural Insurance Company, $1,850 worth of Stanley Black & Decker merchandise (PROTO, DeWalt, Stanley, Lenox & Irwin) and a $500 Case IH parts card courtesy of Case IH;
• Fourth place - A Case IH 40” Combination Roll Cabinet & Top Chest valued at $3,035 and a $500 Case IH parts card courtesy of Case IH.
The national YF&R awards will be presented during the closing general session of the AFBF Convention on Jan. 10.
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