WVFB Young Farmers and Ranchers Attend YAP Conference in Ohio
Sara Wayne
Members of the West Virginia Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee were invited to attend Ohio ’ s Young Agriculture Professionals Conference or YAP . On January 29th , eight WVFB members traveled to Columbus for the conference , hosted by the Ohio Farm Bureau . Those in attendance were Eric Thomason , Joe Hatton , Jeremy and Danielle Grant , John and Sara Wayne , Teighlor Cross , and Kearsten Huffman .
The YAP conference was first held a few years ago , with only 100 producers in attendance . Each year the conference has continued to grow . This years ’ YAP conference boasted nearly 700 young ag professionals ! The conference is designed to provide young agriculture professionals with an opportunity to build leadership skills and better their agriculture operations . The conference also provides attendees with a great chance to network with other producers .
On Friday , the conference opened up with the first round of the discussion meet and the general session , followed by the final round of the discussion meet . Saturday was dedicated to a wide variety of educational workshops ranging from food safety , marketing , business financials , farm succession planning and communicating with consumers about their concerns involving agriculture .
One of the workshops that we chose to attend was by Dr . Leah Dorman from Phibro Animal Health Corporation . Her presentation , “ Having Conversations with Ease ,” further opened my eyes to the many misconceptions consumers have about agriculture . Dr . Dorman explained how farmers can engage in conversations about food production , as well as what types of information consumers are concerned about . Dr . Dorman also stressed the importance of consumers learning about how their food is produced from the people who are actually producing it . For more information you can visit www . fooddialogues . com .
Mark Ankerman , from Ohio State University , held a workshop titled “ Perfecting Your 30 Second Elevator Speech .” Professor Ankerman shared with us the art of getting and holding the attention of the audience , no matter how big or small , in order to deliver your message . By combining the information from these workshops we hope to improve our ability to be advocates for both agriculture and the Farm Bureau . The opportunity to be immersed in such a positive atmosphere with other young people who were passionate about agriculture proved to be truly inspiring to all of those attending .
Photo : Sara Wayne and husband , John .
22 West Virginia Farm Bureau News