Earlier this month, more than 225 young farmers, ranchers and agriculturalists gathered in Fort Myers, Florida for the Florida Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Leadership Conference. Clay and Kari Fulford, Emily Nolen and myself had the opportunity to attend and represent Jefferson County at this conference. The three-day conference is an important event in our industry because it provides agricultural professionals from throughout the state with the opportunity to come together to network, form collaborations, meet new people, broaden our knowledge and so much more!
At the conference, we were able to hear from keynote speakers, attend educational breakout sessions, and networking opportunities. The first keynote speaker, Marshall Sewell shed a light on the challenge of rural mental health and shared his personal experience of losing his father, a strawberry farmer to suicide due to the high stress placed on farm families. The next keynote speaker, Michelle Miller, also known as the ‘Farm Babe’ on social media shared tips for advocating for agriculture and bridging the gap between farmers and consumers.
There were four different break out session tracks focusing on leadership, growing your county Young Farmers & Ranchers committee, commodity updates and pesticide education. My colleague, Ethan Carter and I presented the break out session track on pesticide education. During these sessions, attendees learned about pesticide licensing, how to obtain a license, pest management and the role Extension plays in this process. During the session, attendees were able to obtain pesticide continuing education credits (CEUs) for their Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) restricted-use pesticide license.
Another aspect of the conference was a farm tour of ECHO Global Farms, a non-profit organization that teaches sustainable farming methods to small scale farmers in order to provide for themselves and their community.
The finalists for the Achievement in Agriculture award were announced and I’m proud to report that our very own, Clay and Kari Fulford are one of the top three finalists! This award is designed to recognize young farmers and ranchers that have excelled in their farming/ranching operations and honed their leadership abilities to superiority. Contestants for this award are evaluated on a combination of their farming operation growth and financial progress of their operation and leadership within Farm Bureau as well as outside of Farm Bureau. The winner will be announced at the Florida Farm Bureau Annual Meeting in October and will move on to represent Florida in the national competition in January! Good luck, Clay and Kari!
It was a great weekend sharing ideas and learning from other young agriculturalists in Florida. With the average age of the American farmer rising, it was very encouraging to see so many young people that have a love and passion for the agriculture industry and are dedicated to bridging this generation gap. I’m extremely proud to represent Jefferson County and I am excited to bring some of these new ideas back here! For more information on upcoming programs, please contact the UF/IFAS Jefferson County Extension Office.
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