Tag Archives: Excellence in Agriculture

GFB Young Farmers and Ranchers Gather on Jekyll Island for Annual Summer Leadership Conference

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Jekyll Island, GA |

Future agricultural leaders made their way to Jekyll Island for Georgia Farm Bureau’s annual Young Farmers and Ranchers Summer Leadership Conference, with more than two hundred and fifty attendees representing not only every corner of the state, but every sector of the agricultural industry.

“I’m not sure there’s an event in the state of Georgia where you can have so many different people from so many different aspects of the industry in one place at one time — whether it be a chemical salesman, an equipment dealer, or even educators. It’s people of all walks of life in Georgia ag, here at one place at one time,” said Garrett Hurley, Chairman of the GFB Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee.

MORE THAN NETWORKING

Networking is just one of the many reasons attendees make the trip to Jekyll Island each July. The conference also includes sessions focused on advocacy, education, and the importance of political engagement — because according to one of the event’s featured speakers, agriculture’s voice in Washington is growing quieter by the year.

“Just looking at Congress, there are very few members now who have any type of agriculture background. You look at the way districts are drawn — you have these oddly shaped districts where a person from a suburban or urban area gets elected but is representing a rural area, and they’ve never seen a real blade of grass in their life,” said Mike Sistak, Director of Advocacy and Political Management for the American Farm Bureau Federation. “You want to be involved because you want to help those people. You have to show up and advocate for yourself, for your business, your family, and your community.”

RECOGNIZING THE BEST IN THE PROGRAM

One of the highlights of the conference each year is the announcement of competition winners — and the class of 2026 represented the state well. Allie Andrews of Lamar County took home the Achievement Award. Bryan and Addie Tucker of Wilcox County won the Excellence in Agriculture Award. And Michael Howard of Hart County was named the Discussion Meet winner. What they all have in common: they got their start at events just like this one.

“A lot of the application is your involvement — so get involved on your county level, your local level, and try to get involved on the state level. Come to events like this one on Jekyll Island,” said Levi Davis, GFB Young Farmers and Ranchers Program Coordinator. “This is one of those things you can add to your application to boost your involvement. And there are also opportunities here through breakout sessions and keynote speakers where you can gain ideas and insight on what might make you a better applicant the next time you apply.”

A MESSAGE FROM THE SKY

Among this year’s keynote speakers was Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney — a fighter pilot and founder of Folds of Honor, an organization that provides scholarships to the spouses and children of fallen or disabled service members and first responders. His message to the group was both straightforward and personal.

“Showing up in a disciplined way every day — that’s what I’ve been able to learn as a fighter pilot. We talked about the concept of CAVU: ceiling and visibility unlimited. At its core, that is my code of living, to get the most out of every day,” Rooney said. “It’s about faith, family, farming, and freedom — and it was just such a huge blessing to be with our future leaders and great, traditional American farmers and families.”

For Georgia’s next generation of agricultural advocates, Jekyll Island offered more than a summer getaway. It offered a roadmap — and a reminder that showing up is where leadership begins.

By: Damon Jones

Georgia’s YF&R Competitors Compete in San Antonio

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San Antonio, GA |

Some of Georgia’s brightest in the world of agriculture were on hand here in San Antonio to compete in this year’s YF&R Competitive events. The journey to get here hasn’t been an easy one, but nonetheless, they’ve been in great hands preparing for this moment.

“We’ve got several practices that we’ve had with discussion meet in particular, we’ve talked to several people that have done the competition before, several state winners that have competed on a national level before. They’ve given some good insight to how it actually runs here. As far as the other, achievement and excellence, it’s really just been working through presentations, making sure that their applications are finalized, ready to go, and making sure that they feel comfortable with the questions that they potentially will be asked. We’ve done a few practices for them as well, again, just trying to make sure that we’re attacking this from every angle,” says Levi Davis, GFB YF&R Program Coordinator.

For discussion meet competitor, Cain Thurmond of Jackson County, competing in Texas at the national level is a task he took very seriously, spending the last few weeks, months even, preparing by doing what he does best: having conversations.

“I think the preparation process was a really good experiment because it forced me to have the conversations that I need to be having anyway. So reaching out to not only my County Farm Bureau, but meeting with people within the state and then reaching beyond that, maybe some Farm Bureau members of the past or Farm Bureau people that should be Farm Bureau members and asking them questions about how are we doing, what more can we be doing? What are the challenges on your farm? And so the preparation process was long and arduous, and I’m glad to finally get here to use some of that preparation and put it to work, but I just believe in being prepared no matter what, and so I wanted to be overly prepared, better to be overly prepared and not prepared at all,” says Cain Thurmond, YF&R Discussion Meet Competitor.

For Kaitlyn and Kaleb Marchant of Oglethorpe County, competitors in this year’s Excellence in Agriculture competition, being here in San Antonio is a testament to preparation that has been years in the making, and of course a support system of fellow GFB members that have encouraged them along the way.

“The great thing about this contest is that it’s really just an opportunity for us to share the work that we’ve already done on the front end. So the tough part was the last five or six years of being really actively involved and building up our resume, getting here and just being able to share that and tell that story is really, honestly been kind of the easy and fun part, and we just surround ourself good people. So we came from a really strong YF&R committee that was really cohesive and worked really well together, and our local farm bureau really supported us and anything we wanted to do, and they kind of pushed us along and encouraged us to step out of our comfort zones,” says Kaleb & Kaitlyn Marchant, Excellence in Agriculture Competitors.

In the end, Thurmond advanced his way to the final four round, but ended the competition just shy of the grand prize, coming in second place, however he’s still thrilled with the result and the experience that came with it and says he’s ready to get to work to make a difference back in Georgia.

“Every round we mentioned grassroots and so I’m really excited to kind of get off the stage and get into the grassroots to dig in in Jackson County to make a difference and to do that and everything that I can to ensure that future generations can enjoy agriculture there,” says Thurmond.

By: John Holcomb

Kaleb & Kaitlyn Marchant: Passionate Advocates for Georgia Agriculture

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Athens, GA |

Few couples embody the spirit of Georgia Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers and Ranchers program more than Kaleb and Kaitlyn Marchant. Currently serving as the fourth district’s representative on the YF&R committee, each have dedicated their lives to advancing the industry here in Georgia. And for that reason, they were recently named this year’s Excellence in Agriculture winners.

“We were very excited. It was a goal that Kaleb and I have had for several years that we had been working towards. We’ve been really invested in the Young Farmers and Ranchers program for ten or twelve years now. So, to see that kind of pan out into that recognition was really rewarding,” says Kaitlyn Marchant.

“We have a passion for agriculture. I know a lot of people say that, but we really had a passion, and we are ingrained in this industry, and we just feel really glad that we were able to receive this award,” says Kaleb Marchant.

Both Kaleb and Kaitlyn developed their passion for agriculture at an early age growing up around family farms. And it’s a something they are hoping to pass down through Ag education.

“Both Kaleb and I did grow up in families who had been involved in production agriculture, but we didn’t have that opportunity necessarily to inherit or take over those operations, both of us kind of went into careers where we could make sure that those opportunities were still available for future generations,” says Kaitlyn.

Kaitlyn, who is also the 2019 GFB Young Farmers and Ranchers discussion meet winner, spent her first twelve years in the classroom as a teacher and recently took on a new role as the North Region ag education coordinator.

“Being in the classroom, I really enjoyed getting to work with students who were passionate about agriculture, and as I’ve transitioned to working with the Department of Education, it’s been being that support person for Ag educators because I did that job for so long and kind of understood some of the struggles and the challenges that are faced by Ag education in the state. Being able to work to promote that on the state level on the government level for teachers has been really rewarding,” says Kaitlyn.

Kaleb is now the farm manager at UGA’s Double Bridges Farm beef and sheep unit, where he not only trains the next generation of large animal vets, but also oversees some cutting-edge research.

“I help assist with hands on learning for students who want to be veterinarians primarily, and also students who want to get into farming. We also do research on beef cattle and a little bit on sheep where we’re looking at different types of feed ingredients and methane production that they do and different grazing experiments as well,” says Kaleb.

Thanks to educators like the Marchants, agriculture has a bright future here in Georgia.

“I feel like in my role as an agriculture educator, and in the work that Kaleb has done working with the University and in research, we’re really working to promote the industry and make sure the industry stays viable in Georgia for many years to come,” says Kaitlyn.

By: Damon Jones