July 20, 2015
Florida Farm Bureau will hold its state Young Farmers and Ranchers Leadership Conference, themed “Agriculture in Paradise,” at the Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Club in Naples, July 17-19.
More than 180 young people representing Florida’s next farming generation will attend various leadership development seminars at the three-day conference so that they can better promote agriculture in their own communities.
“We are excited to have such a committed group of young farmers and ranchers attend this year’s conference,” said Young Farmers and Ranchers Coordinator Michael Rogalsky. “These young farmers willingly volunteer their time to improve community awareness of agriculture while producing a safe and reliable food supply.”
The conference will feature The Peterson Farm Brothers as guest speakers. They are a trio of brothers who educate the public on what they do in farming and how important agriculture is as a whole, by using entertaining videos broadcast on social media to tell the story. Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam will be the closing speaker.
Breakout sessions will address biotechnology, financial planning, communication, political education and event marketing. A conference agenda can be viewed at www.floridafarmbureau.org under the Programs/Young Farmers & Ranchers tab.
The conference includes family networking activities and live entertainment. A Discussion Meet competition will also be held at the event. The Discussion Meet competition simulates a committee meeting and engages participants to share ideas on a pre-determined topic. The Final Four Discussion Meet contestants will be announced and will advance to the Florida Farm Bureau Annual Meeting in October.
Florida Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers and Ranchers (YF&R) are members between the ages of 18 and 35 who volunteer their time to speak out for agriculture in their local communities. They support the hunger relief charity Feeding America and have helped contribute an estimated 15 million pounds of fruits and vegetables to assist needy Floridians this year.