Sixteen Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee members from the Delaware Farm Bureau will be traveling to Omaha, NE, this March for a unique leadership conference experience.
The annual Young Farmers & Ranchers Leadership Conference will run March 8-11 and features learning, networking and advocacy opportunities along with local trips and other activities.
Attendees from Delaware will include Mollie and Michael Lynch of Houston with their baby Eleanor, Abel Elwell of Middletown, Casey and Adam Collier of Harrington, Jordan Betts of Milton, Will and Ariel Powers of Townsend, Nathan Thompson of Hartly, JT Robbins of Harrington, Paul William Saathoff of Denton, Connor Vincent of Laurel, Hannah O’Hara of Milford, Alex and Kourtney Keenan of Smyrna, and AJ Alexander of Felton.
The group will explore topics such as networking, farming, grassroots management, and advocacy needs among other hot topics.
“This is a very important conference for younger professionals like me,” Connor Vincent said. “Everyone in our YF&R is very eager to learn and I think that’s only going to push each of us to excel. We all come to Delaware YF&R with different backgrounds and I’m sure we’re not all going to pick the same speakers so we’ll be able to share what we’ve learned when we come back together. It’s going to be a good time. Us being so diverse will make it so fun.”
This will be Vincent’s first YF&R Leadership Conference experience, but it’s not her first time traveling as she’s attended conferences in the past through youth organizations.
“Nebraska is one of the states I haven’t been to yet so I’m excited because it’s different. I wanted to go because everyone last year was raving about it when they came back. They were talking about how they were networking with other people from other states and to me, that’s very important. In our industry, it’s really important to network with people from across the country to give us a broader view and to share our work with the rest of the country. Diversifying allows us to be better leaders for the YF&R and in our businesses. I also think it’s going to be a good time for us to grow bonds with each other in the YF&R,” Vincent said.
Speakers during the event will include American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall and best selling author and award-winning journalist Dr. Rick Rigsby. Attendees will also have the chance to tour local facilities like a winery or aquarium to explore and have fun, or diversify their agricultural knowledge, to name just a couple of experiences waiting for conference attendees.
For more about the Delaware Farm Bureau, visit www.defb.org or call the state office at 302-697-3183 to inquire about sponsoring the YF&R Committee’s upcoming conference travels.
