Ag News
YF&Rs hear about GFB opportunities and more at conference
Posted on Aug 06, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Participants at the Georgia Farm Bureau (GFB) Young Farmers & Ranchers (YF&R) Summer Leadership Conference had an opportunity to hear from YF&R award winners, GFB staff and YF&R leaders on how to get the most out of the YF&R program in a breakout session titled, “Rooted in Opportunity: A Panel of Young Voices in Ag,” on July 19. It was one of six seminars available to attendees at the conference, held July 16-19 on Jekyll Island.
The panelists included: Cole and Nicole Roper of Franklin County, winners of the 2023 GFB Excellence in Agriculture Award; GFB State Affairs Manager Adam Belflower; 2024 Excellence in Agriculture winners Kaitlyn and Kaleb Marchant of Oglethorpe County; and Amelia Jackson, who served alongside her husband, Cleve Jackson of Floyd County, when he chaired the GFB YF&R Committee in 2024. Cleve currently serves on the AFBF YF&R Committee.
Their overall message: Get involved in as many GFB activities as possible and stay engaged.
The Ropers grow corn which they sell from the farm, and they discussed how the GFB Certified Farm Markets program has helped boost their roadside stand.
“It’s a good program, and if you’re looking to sell directly to the public, it’s a good way to get started,” Cole said. “It took our farm to the next level.”
Belflower offered a perspective on what comes next once farmers and ranchers move out of the YF&R program, noting the numerous activities GFB’s Public Policy Department offers to facilitate engagement between GFB members and elected officials, including GFB Day at the Capitol, the Presidents’ trip to D.C., issue-driven campaigns and the organization’s commodity advisory committees, to name a few.
“For our organization to be successful, our members have to engage, and it’s important for you to learn these things through YF&R,” Belflower said. For those not already involved in GFB’s advocacy efforts, he suggested contacting the chairman of their county Farm Bureau’s legislative committee.
Kaitlyn Marchant, who won the GFB Discussion Meet in 2019, said the contest helps develop the ability to identify a problem, conduct research on it and communicate with others about the issues associated with the problem.
“The skills you gain from competing in the Discussion Meet will translate to other things,” Kaitlyn said.
The Marchants encouraged participants to make sure they are involved at the local level.
“Make sure your county YF&R Committee is the most important part of what you do in YF&R,” Kaitlyn said. “Take the things you learn here, take them home and use them.”
GPB offers ag educational resources
On July 18, Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) Education Outreach Manager Jenny Hale shared information about farm-themed educational resources, including video series, games, virtual reality and augmented reality experiences and more. Much of the content Hale introduced is produced in GPB’s education department.
“Everything there is aligned to Georgia education standards,” Hale said. “What we produce is Georgia specific, and all of it is completely free.”
GPB’s educational offerings include lessons and content for all primary and secondary education grades. They include Fast Forward, a series of 16 video segments on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) topics from a variety of occupational sectors, including agriculture.
Hale walked participants through “Farm or Fake,” an interactive game that asks viewers to guess whether a variety of plants and animals are really produced on farms. Students might learn, for instance, that there is such a thing as a purple tomato called the Indigo Rose tomato that gets its color from powerful antioxidants called anthocyanins.
Importantly, language training is worked into the GPB content.
“Vocabulary is the backbone of everything we do,” Hale said.
There are Live Explorations videos that offer visual tours of Georgia farms, the sort of activity teachers might use on days when a substitute teacher is assigned to their classroom.
Hale reviewed five games available for use in the classroom: Cornucopia, CityFarm, Mission Farm, Trouble at Grainly Farms and Carmen’s EcoFarm Adventure.
Visit www.Tinyurl.com/GPB2024AgEd for more information about educational resources from GPB.
Conflict resolution
A July 18 breakout session, titled, “Conflict Resolution: Turning Tension into Teamwork,” featured AFBF Director Leadership & Organizational Training Dr. Maegan Meredith, who led participants through various personal conflict resolution styles, the role communication plays in conflict, and identifying paths to solutions.
“Communication is a way conflict can start and a way it can be resolved,” Meredith said.
Conflict happens when someone’s needs or interests are not being met, Meredith said, and resolutions typically fall into one of three categories: Procedural, psychological/relational or substantive.
Using the example of a couple arguing over washing dishes, Meredith explained how these can be useful in identifying the interest or need not being met.
If the issue is the dishes simply aren’t being washed by the person who is expected to wash them, it falls in the substantive category. If the dishes are not done correctly or well, this is referred to a as a procedural conflict. Psychological/relational conflict occurs when one person tells the other, “I’ll do it if you just stop nagging me to do it.”
Meredith said conflict can be beneficial when it generates solutions and expectations are communicated well. But people fear conflict because it often becomes emotional, and needs can go unmet, which makes people feel vulnerable.
Farm safety starts with you
On July 19, Dr. Dennis Holder, a Macon-based emergency medical physician, walked attendees through a variety of farm-related injuries and how to avoid them.
“Like your mama said, be careful,” Holder said. “Safety is going to start with you. Think a step ahead.”
Holder shared the results of research from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture which revealed that between 2015 and 2019, more than 60,000 people nationwide were treated in emergency rooms for nonfatal ag-related injuries, and approximately one third of those were youth. Holder also noted that most injuries are underreported.
“Injuries can happen at any time,” he said. “They are more common when you are in a hurry or when you are tired. It only takes a second too change your life forever.”
The conference also offered a session on mental health called “Weathering the Storm: Mental Wellness on the Farm,” and a presentation on the Conservation Fund Georgia Farms Fund.
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