Carly Barnes wins Collegiate Farm Bureau Discussion Meet

Carly Barnes, a junior at the University of Florida, recently took first place in the 2010 Collegiate Farm Bureau Discussion Meet and will represent Florida at the national finals of the event next year in Orlando.

The discussion meet competition gives students the opportunity to discuss a current agricultural issue in a committee meeting format. Competitors are judged on analysis of the topic, problem solving and implementation, a cooperative attitude, and general delivery. Each participant makes an opening and closing statement and participates in a general discussion period. The discussion meet contest is designed to have participants analyze agricultural issues and develop solutions that best meet their needs as well as the needs of agriculture.

Barnes is an Agriculture Education and Communication major. She is from Greenwood, Fla. Sarah Burleson of Osteen took second place while Lauren Mayo of Brandon finished third. All three are students in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Florida.

The topic for the discussion meet was: “Has technology become essential for American farmers? Should Farm Bureau influence and encourage all generations of farmers, ranchers and agriculturists to embrace technological opportunities?”

The University of Florida Collegiate Farm Bureau co-sponsored the event with the Florida Farm Bureau. The event moderator was Bernie LeFils, a member of the UF Collegiate Farm Bureau and a finalist in the 2009 national Collegiate Discussion Meet. Micah Scanga served as timekeeper. Judges were Pat Cockrell, assistant to the president of Florida Farm Bureau; Frankie Hall, director of Agricultural Policy for Florida Farm Bureau; and Dr. Chad Carr, professor of Meat Science Extension in the Department of Animal Sciences at UF.

The Florida Farm Bureau Federation is the state’s largest general-interest agricultural association with about 141,000 member-families statewide. Headquartered in Gainesville, the Federation is an independent, nonprofit agricultural organization. More information about Florida Farm Bureau is available on the organization’s Web site, http://FloridaFarmBureau.org