AgWired

Young farmers and ranchers from across the nation competed in three categories: the Young Farmers and Ranchers Achievement Award, Discussion Meet and Excellence in Agriculture.  Winners were announced during the American Farm Bureau Federation‘s 2017 Annual Convention & IDEAg Trade Show.

Sarah Cyphers representing the Commonwealth of Virginia earn the Excellence in Agriculture Award.  Now she’ll get to choose between a 2017 Chevrolet Silverado or a 2017 GMC Sierra from Chevrolet.  She’ll also get a free registration to the AFBF FUSION Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in February.  This contest honors those who do not receive a majority of their income from their agriculture option, but who contribute and grow their involvement and their leadership.

Runners-up in the Excellence in Agriculture competition are: Wayne and Melonie Brinkerhoff of Utah, Terisha and Brian McKeighen of Arizona and Seth and Lyndsay Earl of Michigan.  They will each be receiving a Case IH Formal 50A tractor from Case IH and $3,000 in cash and merchandise from STIHL.

The Achievement Award went to Grant and Kristen Strom from Illinois.  They also will get to chose a truck thanks to Cherovlet and can attend the FUSION conference free of charge.  This award recognizes those who have excelled in their farming or ranching operations and exhibited superior leadership abilities.  Criteria involves their operation’s growth and financial progress, Farm Bureau leadership and leadership outside of Farm Bureau.

Stewart and Kasey McGill of Alabama, Chris and Patricia Haskins from Virginia and Jan and Alice Ann Yeargin of Tennessee were named runners-up for the Achievement Award.  They will receive a Case IH Formal 50A tractor, provided by Case IH and $3,000 and merchandise sponsored by STIHL.

The third award winner was Matt Niswander from Tennessee.  Niswander won the Discussion Meet, a committee simulation in which participants are evaluated on their ability to exchange ideas and information on predetermined topics.  Niswander will be awarded his choice of truck, while the runners up will receive a Case IH Formal 50A tractor and $3,000 in cash and merchandise from STIHL.

Those runners-up in the Discussion Meet are Amanda Sollman of Michigan, Skye Gess of Georgia and Jessica Jones of Virginia.

You can listen to the awards presentation, including comments from each of the winners, here: AFBF Award Winners Presentation

2017 AFBF annual meeting photos

The American Farm Bureau Federation Entrepreneur of the Year is Vertical Harvest Hydroponics of Alaska and team leads Linda Janes and Dan Perpich.

Janes and Perpich came out the winner over three other finalists and took home a total of $30,000 in prize money, including $15,000 from sponsor Farm Bureau Bank to produce hydroponic vegetables housed in 40’ insulated shipping containers. All four finalists each received $15,000 in October for advancing in the competition.

The People’s Choice award and an extra $10,000 went to Levrack of Nebraska with 73 percent of the popular vote from the live audience at the finals competition and the general public online. Levrack produces efficient storage systems for farm shops, with Ryan Stauffer, Austin Stauffer and Peter Miller as team leads.

Listen to this interview Susan Littlefield with the KRVN Rural Radio Network did to learn more about Levrack: RRN interview with Levrack, AFBF People's Choice Entreprenuer

2017 AFBF annual meeting photos
Click to watch the finals competition from AFBF

Kalena Bruce of southwest Missouri was elected as the 2017 chairperson of the American Farm Bureau Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee during the AFBF annual meeting in Phoenix this week. Bruce will take over as chair in February, at the end of the committee’s leadership conference, and serve for one year and will also serve on the AFBF board of directors.

Kalena farms with her husband, Billy, and two-year-old daughter, Willa Grace. They have a commerical cow-calf operation and an agri-tourism venture where they grow strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and blueberries and have a pumpkin patch and corn maze in the fall.

I sat down with Kalena at the AFBF convention to learn more about her. Interview with Kalena Bruce, 2017 AFBF YF&R Chair

2017 AFBF annual meeting photos

Dr. Pat Westhoff of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri brought attendees of the American Farm Bureau Federation‘s Annual Convention and IDEAg Trade Show an outlook for the 2017-2018 crop demand.

Overall, he says, look for 2017 to follow a similar trend of 2016, with prices continuing to be below average. “Lots of pressure will be placed on labor markets where there hasn’t been in the last several years,” Westhoff said. “This a result of poor labor markets and a slowing rate of population growth.

“Most of the immediate population growth will occur in the age range of people who are not of working age in the U.S., adding to the stress on the labor market.”

With an emphasis on the patterns of growth in populations and the advancements already made in grains and oilseeds, Westhoff outlines how harvest has increased by 17 percent while the world per capita consumption is increasing at 16 percent yearly.

“China and biofuels accounted for all the growth in per capita consumption since 1980,” Westhoff said. “Ethanol production and an increase in Chinese consumption per capita has had the greatest effect on grains and oilseeds global markets. Remove those two factors and we have about the same per capita use of grains and oilseeds.”

You can listen to his predictions here: AFBF Crop Outlook with Pat Westhoff

2017 AFBF annual meeting photos