In October I posted about my spontaneous participation in the district Farm Bureau discussion meet. This last week was the state discussion meet in Sun Valley so The Rancher and I took off a few days to play with other Young Farmer & Ranchers.
The closer we drove to Sun Valley the more exciting this got for me. I’m passionate about ranching. I’m passionate about having a family ranch. I’m really passionate about sharing our family ranching story. Ya, you know that already… Any way, this discussion meet was right up my ally- an opportunity to talk about issues we face in our agriculture community.
The meet went really well, in fact I had several of the judges and folks from the audience tell me how well I did or that they liked my style. After the high I was on last year I am already to do it again!
These are the questions we discussed. I would love to hear if you have any thoughts on them!
1. How should Farm Bureau engage farmer/rancher members, representing all types and kinds of operations (i.e. conventional, organic, large, small and niche markets), to work together to better promote a more positive image of agriculture?
2. How do we encourage young farmers and ranchers to continue to be involved in Farm Bureau? How can young producers lead even if they don’t hold elected positions on boards?
3. What are the best practices for youth working on farms and ranches to ensure their safety and provide them learning opportunities in the area of agriculture production?
4. US agriculture is one of the major industries for the American economy. What can farmers do to stimulate more economic growth?
5. How can Young Farmers & Ranchers work with elected and appointed officials to eliminate unnecessary or excessive regulations placed upon agriculture while ensuring that new regulations are justified based on their costs and anticipated benefits?
