GFB News Magazine
YF&Rs Learn: educational resources, conflict resolution & farm safety
by Jay Stone
Posted on August 1, 2025 12:28 AM
Georgia Farm Bureau (GFB) Young Farmers & Ranchers (YF&R) attending the organization's annual YF&R Summer Conference had the chance to enrich their professional and personal skill by attending six seminars offered at the conference held July 16-19 on Jekyll Island.
GPB offers ag educational resources
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 a purple tomato called the Indigo Rose tomato that gets its color from powerful antioxidants called anthocyanins.
Importantly, language training is part of 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 GPB educational resources.
Conflict resolution
The breakout session “Conflict Resolution: Turning Tension into Teamwork,” featured AFBF Director of Leadership & Organizational Training Dr. Maegan Meredith, who covered 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 explained, 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. It makes people feel vulnerable.
Farm safety starts with you
Dr. Dennis Holder, a Macon-based emergency 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 shows that between 2015 and 2019 more than 60,000 people nationwide were treated in emergency rooms for nonfatal ag-related injuries, and about 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 to 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.