Young Farmers & Ranchers Award Applications NYFB
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Young Farmers & Ranchers Competitive Events offer unique opportunities for Young Farmers & Ranchers (YF&R) members to earn recognition and prizes. YF&R members may participate in these competitive events if they are 18-35 years of age.

The Achievement Award highlights young Farm Bureau members’ efforts in production agriculture and leadership achievement. Participants are involved in production agriculture with a majority of their income subject to normal production risks. Competitors are judged on their farm operation and growth, the financial progress of their operation and their Farm Bureau and community leadership.

The Excellence in Agriculture Award spotlights young Farm Bureau members who are agricultural enthusiasts but have not earned a majority of their income from an owned production agriculture enterprise in any of the past three years. Participants are evaluated on their involvement in agriculture, leadership ability, and participation/involvement in Farm Bureau and other organizations (i.e., civic, service and community).

The state winner of each of these awards will represent New York at the AFBF national competition which will be held in Puerto Rico January 6-11, 2023.

All applications must be submitted via the online portal on or before July 15 at 11:59 p.m. EST. Scanned or emailed entries will not be accepted or qualify as a submission.

Eligibility:

• An applicant can be either an individual or a couple that is married or has similar legal rights under the law applicable to the NYFB. Applicant may choose to apply individually, rather than as a couple.

• Applicant(s) shall be a regular NYFB member(s) between the ages of 18 and 35 in good standing with his/her county Farm Bureau. The individual or spouse/spousal-equivalent shall have reached his/her 18th birthday at the time he/she qualifies for the national competition and shall not have reached his/her 36th birthday by the completion of the competition. Competitors qualify at the time the national application is submitted and the completion of the competition is the day awards are given out (Monday, January 9, 2023). Co-applicants must meet age requirements.

• Past and present members of the AFBF Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee and/or their spouse are not eligible to compete.

• Current employees or agents of county, state and/or the American Farm Bureau organizations and their affiliates are not eligible to compete. An affiliate is defined as an entity owned or controlled in whole or in part by another entity through, for example, ownership (including partial ownership) or positions on the board of directors.  Past employees and interns who were responsible for implementing any of the YF&R Competitive Events since January 1, 2018 at the state or national level are ineligible. 

• Applicant(s) may only compete in one YF&R Competition at the national level per year.

• Applicant(s) must be in attendance on-site at the AFBF Annual Convention to compete nationally.

VIRTUAL CONVENTION: If AFBF is unable to hold the 2023 Annual Convention in-person for any reason, the competitive events will be held virtually, and all applicants should be made aware of this possibility prior to their application.  If the competition will be virtual, all contestants will be given the opportunity to withdraw their application for 2023 to ensure eligibility for future years.

For Achievement Award:

The ideal condidate(s) for the Achievement Award is an individual or couple involved in production agriculture with a majority of his/her gross income subjext to farm and/or ranch risks.

• Applicant(s) must be actively engaged in farming and/or ranching, with the majority of his/her gross income coming from production agriculture. Applicant(s) must have at least three years of financial records showing that the majority of income came from production agriculture.

• Previous AFBF Achievement Award competitors are not eligible to compete. Past state YF&R Achievement Award winners are eligible if they have not previously competed at the national level.

• A panel of qualified judges will select up to 3 competitors (based on judging the applications) to be interviewed at a designated date & time. Interviews will be up to 20 minutes in length and are intended to evaluate the competitor's command of the farm/ranch business and financials, familiarity of the contents of the application and appreciaition for the value of Farm Bureau. In addition to the 5 points allocated for the interview, judges may alter scores from other sections based on what they learn during the interview.

For Excellence in Agriculture Award:

The ideal candidate(s) for the Excellence in Agriculture Award is an individual or couple who does not have the majority of his/her gross income subject to normal production risk.

• Applicant(s) must not have derived a majority of his/her gross income coming from an owned production agriculture enterprise in any of the past three years.

• Past state YF&R Achievement Award winners and/or previous AFBF Achievement Award competitors are not eligible to compete.

• Previous AFBF Excellence in Agriculture Award competitors are not eligible to compete. Past state YF&R Excellence in Agriculture winners are eligible if they have not previously competed at the national level.

• A panel of qualified judges will select up to 3 competitors (based on judging the applications) to share their presentation at a designated date & time. The presentation will be an interactive, 25-minute presentation in which the applicant(s) has the opportunity to share the contents of his/her/their entire application in narrative form with a panel of three judges and the audience.                                                                                                                                                                                                   - Applicant(s) will have 25 minutes to present on the topics addressed in the application and address questions from the judges. Applicants will be notified by the timekeeper when 10 minutes are remaining and again when five minutes are remaining. Each judge will be prepared to ask one question. At 25 minutes, time will be called and the applicant’s time in front of the judges will conclude even if judges have not been able to ask their questions.  It will be up to the applicant(s) to determine how to use this time. If the answers to the judges’ questions are complete before time is called, the room moderator will call time.                                                                                                                                                                                   - The only visual means in which to deleiver the information is through a PowerPoint of Prezi presentation. No props (including notes), sound or video of any kind will be allowed during the presentation.  

Entry Form & Application Guidelines:

• Do not use applicant’s name, the name of his/her state or county, or any names that may bring about the recognition or identification of the applicant’s state beyond the entry form.

• Do not use abbreviations or acronyms unless it has been spelled out once with the abbreviation in parentheses behind it. For example, United States Department of Education (USDE). AFBF, FB, and YF&R are acceptable to use throughout the application. 

• It will be up to the judges’ discretion to deduct points if applicants include activities before they were 18.