Local Farm Bureaus represented at annual American Farm Bureau Convention

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The 104th annual convention of the American Farm Bureau Federation was held in San Juan and brought together 338 voting delegates to shape AFBF policy.

Several Illinois Farm Bureau Young Leaders participated in AFBF’s national competitions.

Evan Hultine of Bureau County was named a third-place finalist as the Illinois representative for the AFBF Young Farmers and Ranchers Achievement Award.

The award competition features young farmers and ranchers who have excelled in their operations and exhibited leadership abilities.

Competitors are evaluated on a combination of their agricultural operation’s growth and financial progress, Farm Bureau leadership and leadership outside of the organization.

Kaylee Heap of Kendall County placed fourth in the AFBF Excellence in Agriculture competition.

The competition features young farmers and ranchers who are actively contributing and growing their involvement in Farm Bureau and the agriculture industry, but whose net income doesn’t come from production agriculture.

Ryan Reeverts of Ogle County also represented Illinois in the AFBF Young Leader Discussion Meet.

Seven Illinois county Farm Bureaus were among those selected as winners in the AFBF County Activities of Excellence Program as Bureau, Marshall-Putnam, Stark, Cook, Champaign, DeKalb and McLean County Farm Bureaus’ winning programs were featured during the ag showcase.

County Managers Jill Frueh, of Bureau, and Tiffany Moodie, of Marshall-Putnam, were on hand to host a booth representing Bureau, Marshall-Putnam and Stark counties on their Farmer Mental Health Initiative in which they work with Arukah, other local businesses and organizations.

IFB also received a New Horizon Award in recognition of its County Farm Bureau Certified Director Program.

The award, which recognizes new innovative state Farm Bureau programs, stemmed from the IFB’s new “on-demand” program providing additional leadership development for members in key roles.

Additionally, IFB received Awards of Excellence for outstanding achievements in all four program areas including advocacy, coalitions and partnerships, engagement and outreach and leadership with business development.

Founded in 1916, IFB is a nonprofit membership organization with a total membership of more than 366,043 and a farmer membership of 76,527.