Getting Ready for Discussion Meet 2010-2011

So, it is time to start prepping for the 2010 Nevada State Farm Bureau Meeting, and one of the biggest parts of this meeting for YF&R members is the DISCUSSION MEET!  But, I know that a lot of you are probably wondering what exactly the Discussion Meet actually is and WHY you should get involved in it.

Well, let me give you a few EASY incentives:

$500 for 1st Place

$250 for 2nd Place

$100 for 3rd Place

Hmmmm, still need another?  How about this:

An all-expense paid trip to compete at Nationals if you win at state:

Atlanta, Georgia--Jan. 9-12, 2011

(for non-collegiate winner)

Orlando, Florida--Feb 5-7, 2011

(for a collegiate level winner)

Oh, and there are a few prizes to be won at nationals, too, like:

Scholarships for Collegiate winners

Ram Pick-up Trucks for Non-collegiate

So, now that you know about those incentives, let me tell you about the rest!  In 2006 a good friend of mine told me that she thought I should compete in a Farm Bureau competition that she had be involved in the year before--which she had ended up winning at the state level and gone on to compete nationally in Branson, Missouri.  The week before state meeting, Heather Center, the current YF&R chair, brought me the Discussion meet questions for that contest and finished convincing me to give it a try.  At the NVFB State meeting that fall in Tonopah, I competed, placing first from the small group that we had that day.  This took me on to Nationals in Salt Lake City, where I followed in Heather's footsteps, competing through to the Sweet Sixteen, before being eliminated.  Through the Discussion Meet, I was introduced to Farm Bureau, to the YF&R program, and four years later I am doing all I can to keep the program alive in Nevada and introduce it to others who feel the same way about agriculture as I do.  Read on for more.

Discussion Meet 2008--Yerington, Nevada

The Discussion Meet gives us an opportunity to discuss important agriculture topics in a Board meeting setting.  There are anywhere from 4 to 6 competitors in an event that lasts almosts 30 minutes.  There is a room monitor, 3 judges, a timer, and a moderator, at the table with the contestants to oversee the running of the event.  The discussion meet in Yerington was the largest in years, with eight people, and as such was a pretty exciting thing for us.  We had to do two rounds in order to narrow down to the final four competition.

Charlie Mann went on to place first in the contest. With Lee Mathews taking 2nd, as he had the year before in Mesquite.

Charlie Mann Competes at Collegiate Contest--Sacramento, 2009

Jimmy Lotspeich Competes at Collegiate Contest-- Tulsa, 2010

Both Jimmy and Charlie were former State FFA Officers who came to our state meetings and got involved and have continued their involvement in YF&R since. 

YF&R Discussion Meet helps develop leadership skills, especially in a group, or board meeting setting.  It gives people an opportunity to work on their public speaking skills, as well as the chance to discuss hot topics with people from similiar agricultural lifestyles across our country--helping us all to learn a little more of what it is like for others throughout the different fields of agriculture, and making us better able to push for legislation and support in areas that will maintain our needs as producers.

So, here are the questions that will be used at the state meeting, with one change--there have usually only been FOUR questions, and so it is a given that each topic will be used at nationals in the four-round event, but now there is a fifth, so there are no guarantees as to which question will be drawn at each round.  The important thing is to understand a few important aspects of each question and to be willing to listen, learn, question, and cooperate in order to discuss the topic efficiently with those you will be competing against.

2011 Discussion Meet Questions

1- Farm Bureau is the leading voice for agriculture but not the only voice. How do we encourage other agricultural groups to work together for the common good of our industry?


2- Government has always been involved in agriculture. Is the current level of government involvement a net hindrance or a net benefit to agriculture?


3- How will food movements such as “foodie” and “locavore,” which are focused primarily in urban centers, influence national agricultural production and federal programs?


4- Has technology become essential for American farmers? Should Farm Bureau influence and encourage all generations of farmers, ranchers and agriculturalists to embrace technological opportunities?


5- Given recent challenges, such as volatile food prices and limited world food supplies, do American consumers adequately appreciate the importance of US-produced food? Will American consumers consider American agriculture important to our security in the future?

If you are interested in being involved in this contest, the following helps and information are good places to start to gain more knowledge in the areas of these 5 questions:

1. FARM BUREAU IS THE LEADING VOICE FOR AGRICULTURE BUT NOT THE ONLY VOICE. HOW DO WE ENCOURAGE OTHER AGRICULTURAL GROUPS TO WORK TOGETHER FOR THE COMMON GOOD OF OUR INDUSTRY?


· Advocates for Ag

o http://www.blogger.com/goog_1885938088

o http://www.advocatesforag.blogspot.com/

· Feedstuffs Foodlink

o http://feedstuffsfoodlink.com/ME2/Default.asp

· Conversations on Care

o http://www.conversationsoncare.com/about-us.aspx

· Your Agriculture

o http://www.fb.org/index.php?fuseaction=yourag.home



· “To underestimate ag is a big mistake”, by Steve Kopperud, Feedstuffs, April 2009

o http://www.maninnature.com/Management/Farming/Farm1e2.pdf

2. GOVERNMENT HAS ALWAYS BEEN INVOLVED IN AGRICULTURE. IS THE CURRENT LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT A NET HINDRANCE OR A NET BENEFIT TO AGRICULTURE?

· Farm Policy Facts

o http://www.farmpolicyfacts.org/

· “Federal Funding in Rural America Goes Far Beyond Agriculture” USDA-ERS , Amber Waves, March 2009

o http://www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/March09/Findings/RuralFederalFunding.htm
· “The Post-Buyout Experience: Peanut and Tobacco Sectors Adapt to Policy Reform” USDA-ERS November 2009

o http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/eib60/

3. HOW WILL FOOD MOVEMENTS SUCH AS “FOODIE” AND “LOCAVORE” WHICH ARE FOCUSED PRIMARILY IN URBAN CENTERS, INFLUENCE NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AND FEDERAL PROGRAMS?

· “2010 foodservice trends highlight local, healthy food”, The Packer, December 21, 2009

o http://thepacker.com/2010-foodservice-trends-highlight-local--healthy-food/Article.aspx?articleid=969685&authorid=351&feedid=215&src=search

· Community Gardens- Texas A & M University

o http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/Kinder/commun.html

· “Sustainability, Local Sourcing and Nutrition Top List of Hottest Menu Trends for 2010”, NRA press release

o http://www.restaurant.org/pressroom/pressrelease.cfm?ID=1866

· “Consumers choose locally grown and environmentally friendly apples”, Univ. of Illinois, November 2009

o http://www.ace.illinois.edu/pdfs/mazzocco_jfdr.pdf


4. HAS TECHNOLOGY BECOME ESSENTIAL FOR AMERICAN FARMERS?

· Precision Paybacks? Farm Futures magazine, October 2009

o http://magissues.farmprogress.com/FFU/FF10Oct09/ffu10.pdf

· “Where Tech is headed”, Farm Journal Farm Machinery Guide

o http://www.agweb.com/FarmJournal/machinery/Default.aspx

· “Broadband Internet’s Value for Rural America”, USDA,ERS August 2009

o http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err78/



· “Internet Access and Internet Purchasing Patterns of Farm Households”, Agricultural and Economic Resource Review, October 2009

o http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/55545/2/mishra%20-%20current.pdf



5. GIVEN RECENT CHALLENGES, DO AMERICAN CONSUMERS ADEQUATELY APPRECIATE THE IMPORTANCE OF U.S.-PRODUCED FOOD?

· “The Omnivore’s Delusion: Against the Agri-intellectuals” by Blake Hurst, The American, July 2009

o http://american.com/archive/2009/july/the-omnivore2019s-delusion-against-the-agri-intellectuals

· The Hand That Feeds Us

o http://www.thehandthatfeedsus.org/index.cfm

· America’s Heartland

o http://www.americasheartland.org/

· Center for Food Integrity

o http://www.foodintegrity.org/index.php


This year’s Nevada Contest will be at our NVFB State Annual Meeting, Winnemucca Convention Center, preliminaries beginning around 4:00pm Friday, November 19, 2010. There will be a YF&R Social following, and a YF&R sponsored breakfast at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, November 20.

We’re looking forward to a great DM contest in November.

FYI- In addition to the Discussion Meet Contest we also have the “Achievement Award” and the “Excellence in Agriculture” Award. These are open to YF&R individuals or married couples, 18-35. While both contests emphasize leadership at all life and experience levels the first also emphasizes production agriculture skills with a majority of income subject to normal production risks; the “Excellence” award focuses on contributions to agriculture organizations and allied agricultural industries. The applications for these awards are available now for prospective contestants to use as guidelines in getting ready to compete now or in the future. Deadlines to submit applications for either of these awards in any year have been set for pre-submission review on or about September 15th and final draft submission by November 1st of any given year.

Email me if you are interested or want to know more!!!!!

Sept. 19-25 is National Farm Safety and Health Week

In a typical year, 551 workers die while doing agricultural work in the United States and about 88,000 suffer lost-time injuries. Most of these incidents are preventable.
National Farm Safety and Health Week (Sept. 19-25) recognizes the hazardous nature of the agriculture industry and promotes awareness of safety solutions. This annual event was initiated by the National Safety Council in 1944 and has been proclaimed as such by each U.S. president since. In conjunction with the weeklong observance, the National Institute for Farm Safety is sharing its collective expertise with an updated list of farm safety and health professionals, who serve as contacts for agricultural safety and health issues, in order to provide access to local professionals.


The list can be found on the NIFS website at http://www.nifsagsafety.org./ There also will be a link to the list from the website of the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (http://www.necasag.org/). NECAS is the agricultural partner for the NSC, and has developed a variety of other safety articles and public service announcements on this year’s theme for National Farm Safety and Health Week, ATVs: Work Smart, Ride Safe.

National YF&R Conference in ORLANDO 2011 ! ! !

Our early bird deadline for reservations for National YF&R is coming up at the beginning of November--so, if anyone is interested in going this year, it is time to start thinking and planning!!  Below is the tentative agenda!

2011 AFBF YF&R Leadership Conference

Orlando, FL

February 5-7, 2011

Hotel: Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort

1000 W Buena Vista Dr,

Orlando, FL 32830

(407) 939-3895

 

Reservation cutoff date: December 31, 2010

• Available starting July 8, 2010

• The rate is $150/per night (Single/Double occupancy), additional person (18 yrs and older) $15 per person per night

• When reserving rooms call 407-939-1020 and tell them you are with the Biennial Joint National Leadership Conference or American Farm Bureau Federation
Items for your Attention
Theme: TBD
Registration: Registration will be available starting July 8. The registration form will be electronic and based in SILO.

Early Bird fee - $200 – deadline November 1, 2010

*Note the earlier date this year*

Regular - $250 – November 2- December 31, 2010

Children - $75 – under 12 years old

Joint Leadership Cost: The cost for attendees who will attend both conferences is $250 if registered by November 1st and $300 if registered between November 2 and December 31. Please register for both conferences and AFBF will correct during the billing and reporting process.

Cancellation - There is a $50 cancellation fee if cancelled prior to January 14. No refund will be made if registration is cancelled after January 14.

Tours: When you register your attendees you will need to check the tour box for the tour option they intend to go on. Space is limited on each tour. First come, first served.
Dress code: Business Casual for the entire conference is acceptable

Casual Dress (respectable) for the tours is acceptable – no open toed shoes
Silent Auction: All proceeds from the Silent Auction will benefit the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture®. We are asking each state to donate 2 items to the silent auction that have a value of at least $50 - $75. Attendees will be given the opportunity to bid on these items on Saturday.


Tentative Schedule of Events

Friday, February 4, 2011
Registration/ Silent Auction Drop-off 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm
State Chair/Coordinator Meeting 3:00 pm
Evening on your own
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Cyber Café All Day
Registration/ Silent Auction Drop-off All Day
Opening Session 8:00-9:45am

• FBACT Awards

• President Stallman Address

• Keynote Speaker
Break 9:45am
Issue Breakout Sessions 10:15am-11:15am
Issue Breakout Sessions 11:30am-12:30pm
Luncheon 12:30-2:00pm

• PAL Graduation
General Session 2:30-4:00pm

• Keynote Speaker

• President Stallman Wrap-Up
Afternoon/Evening Free
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Cyber Café All-day
Registration 7:30 am – 12:00 pm
Morning Devotional 8:00 am – 8:30 am
Discussion Meet- Round 1 8:30 am – 9:15 am
General Session 9:30 am – 10:30 am

Speaker: Dick Wittman

“Are You Getting a Passing Grade in Farm Management”
Collegiate Discussion Meet- Round 2 10:30 am – 11:15 am
Morning Break 10:30 am – 11:00 am
Leadership Breakout Sessions 11:15 am – 12:30 pm
Luncheon 12:30 pm – 1:45 pm

Leadership Breakout Sessions 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm
Afternoon Break 3:15 pm – 3:45 pm
Collegiate Discussion Meet- Sweet 16 3:45 pm – 4:30 pm
Collegiate Discussion Meet Final 4 5:00 pm – 5:45 pm

Awards Banquet 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Monday, February 7, 2011
Cyber Café All Day
State Coordinator/Chair Breakfast 7:00 am – 8:00 am
Beginning Farmer/Rancher Development Breakfast 7:00am-8:00am
Closing Session 8:30 am

Speaker: Andrew McCrea

“Ordinary to Extraordinary: The ‘Extra’ that Brings Success”
Tours 10:00 am

Grand Finale Event 6:00-8:00 pm

Tour Descriptions- Coming Soon!
Tour Option 1: (North Central) AG3, Inc., Cherry Lake Tree Farm, Knox Nursery, Inc., Lakeridge Winery and Vineyards
Tour Option 2: (East) Evans Fish Farm, The Magnolia Company, Vo-LaSalle Farms Inc, Wm. F Puckett Inc. Fernery
Tour Option 3: (South Central) Deseret Ranches, Kempfer Ranch and Sawmill

Tour Option 4: (West) G&F Farms and Driscoll’s of Florida, Inc, Noble Worldwide Citrus, Publix SuperMarkets Corporate Office
Keynote Speaker:
Dick Wittman-
Keynote: “Are You Getting a Passing Grade in Farm Management”
Business management practices, not economic issues, are often the reason family operations dissolve business relationships or fail in their efforts to achieve viable business succession. Wittman examines key managerial proficiencies that must be implemented as well as consequences of failing to adopt these practices in everyday operations. This speaker combines keynote comments with case study topics in the breakout sessions to tackle a number of sensitive issues related to family business management. It is presented from the viewpoint of a working family farm manager who has also provided family farm business transition consulting for over thirty years.
Bio- Wittman manages a 19,000-acre Idaho family farm partnership involving crops, cattle and timber and provides consulting services and seminars in family farm business and financial management in the US and abroad. A former FCS lender, he’s also served on numerous commodity and financial institution boards; is a director and past president of the Farm Financial Standards Council and past president of the PNW Direct Seed Association. He is an adjunct faculty member of Texas A&M teaching annually at the TEPAP program and King Ranch Institute, and also serves on the Ag Carbon Markets Working Group which provides policy development leadership in climate change legislation impacting agriculture.

Andrew McCrea-
Keynote: “Ordinary to Extraordinary: The ‘Extra’ that Brings Success”

We have a choice…to be ordinary or extraordinary. We choose to be extraordinary. But what does extraordinary leadership look like? How do you build an extraordinary business? What is the ‘extra’ that makes the difference? Andrew McCrea will take you to the farm and around the globe as he uses his experiences as a rancher and an award-winning journalist to share the story of the ‘extra’ that makes people and businesses stand out among the rest. Be inspired and motivated with practical ways you can put extraordinary leadership to work in your life!
Bio- Anrew McCrea is a farmer and rancher, an award-winning syndicated radio broadcaster, and a frequent speaker on leadership topics. He is a past state FFA President and national FFA Secretary. A graduate of the University of Missouri, he earned his degree in agriculture and returned to the family farm in northwest Missouri to help manage the operation with his father. Today the farm encompasses over 3500 acres where he and his father run a stocker cattle business and grow corn, soybeans and wheat.
In 1996 he began producing “The American Countryside” radio program. Today the program is heard Monday through Friday on almost 100 stations across the Midwest. McCrea has interviewed a great variety of guests over the years…Emmy and Grammy winners, Hall of Fame athletes, Iditarod sled dog mushers and even the rooster crowing champion! The program has won five Oscars in Agriculture. He is the author of four books, “American Countryside: Where Does Lost Luggage Go?”, “The Man Who Was President For a Day”, “God’s Perfect View” and “Making Molehills out of Mountains.” All of his books are real-life short stories offering insights into life and leadership gathered through his radio broadcasts.

He has provided leadership programs for groups in 49 states addressing audiences of up to 10,000. He believes in building strong communities. After returning to the family farm he began to serve in many volunteer roles. He is the past chairman of the Missouri Beef Industry Council. He is a current member of the Heartland Regional Medical Center Board and serves as a speaker at many Protestant and Catholic churches.

An Almost Lost Art......

In our backyard, sits a very strange looking machine.  Occasionally, it is loaded on to our flatbed pick-up truck and this always gets plenty of strange looks and questions.  It is something that was once a commnly used tool in our area and in so many others that are surrounded with hay fields.  It is a 'Hay Boom.' Technically speaking, it is a Luden Boom, built in 1984, and ran by a Briggs and Stratton 18 horsepower engine.  It was used by my father-in-law and brother-in-laws for years, as my husband was growing up watching them.   ( I really wanted to upload the videos, but couldn't figure it out--so maybe someday you'll actually be able to see it in action!)

They owned Perkins Feed in Las Vegas for many years, and my father-in-law bought hay from farmers and loaded and hauled it himself, my husband was his little side-kick until he was in school and then when his year-round school was on break he was right back with him.  In fact, buying hay from farmers in Lincoln County is what actually led them to retiring here.  But, before that happened, my father-in-law retired from the Fire Department in Las vegas, leased the Feed Store and headed to the year-round hay fields of Blythe, California and Ehrenberg, Arizona. Here they spent a couple of years trying to support a couple of kids who were in college and serving church missions.   I can't imagine how many loads they boomed during those years--my brother-in-law told me that they averaged 13-19 cuttings a year in the various kinds of hayfields there. They worked the evenings when it was cooler--but if you've ever been there, you realize that means that it might have been around a 100 degrees after dark, still. 

Our family spent a couple of days there at the end of our summer vacation two years ago.  It was amazing to see--the canal system is incredible and the stackyards sometimes go on for a mile, while the hayfields, the orchards, and the cottonfields stretch as far as the water will support them before turning into dry, bare, desert.After leaving the heat, they settled in Dry valley, where they still used the oom to load for wuite a few farmers around the are, by this time my husband was getting old enough to start stacking and loading, learning the trade from his dad and the truckers who had worked with hay booms for years.  So, through the years and the passing of my father-in-law, the boom came to reside with us, and over the last ten years, there are still those who have yet to upgrade to squeezes and fork lifts to load, who occasionally need someone to boom hay for them.  This summer Grant has already loaded six sets of doubles and had several other people call to say that if they get some of their next crop sold could they get him to come and load for them, too?  Many of the truck drivers are ones that knew his dad and brothers well, some are even the ones that Grant first learned to boom or load with.  And, though he may be a little rusty at first, with each bale, he gets a little smoother and a little more comfortable and starts to place them just right.  It is a tradition that has been passed down, from generation to generation, like so many in agriculture,which are slowly being reaplaced by most innovative technology, by changes in farming.  Yet, listening to the hum of the motor and watching the bale lift and swing in to place kind of has a rhythm and magic that cannot be replaced by even the quickest and easiest of squeezes.  I guess that is the way it is with so many of the changes that we often face in agriculture.

Did I mentuion that the hay boom also makes for a great swing at the local warm spring we use as the community swimming hole?

****I have had a couple of people asks questions about this post--in answer, I have no idea where you would get a boom these days.  And in response to another comment, my husband was a little boy when his brothers and dad were loading in Blythe, so if you would most likely not have known him, but if you knew any other Perkins' that was probably them!*****