Excellence in Agriculture Award

YAP Excellence in Ag Award Application
Overview

The Young Ag Professionals (YAP) and Young Farmers and Ranchers (YF&R) Excellence in Agriculture Award competition is designed as an opportunity for young farmers and ranchers to earn recognition, while actively contributing and growing though their involvement in Farm Bureau and agriculture. Participants will be judged on their involvement in agriculture, leadership ability, and participation/involvement in Farm Bureau and other organizations (i.e., civic, service and community). 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.

Please know all applicant information is handled in strict confidence and is destroyed after judging is completed.

Eligibility

Ohio Farm Bureau utilizes the same eligibility guidelines as the American Farm Bureau for this award. The Excellence in Ag application is an abbreviated version of the national award application. Those applying for the Ohio Farm Bureau contest will be expected to complete the full AFBF Excellence in Ag application should they be selected to compete nationally.
- An applicant can be either an individual or a couple that is married or has similar legal rights under the law applicable to the state Farm Bureau organization. Applicants may choose to apply individually, rather than as a couple.
- Applicant(s) shall be a Farm Bureau 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 state competition and shall not have reached his/her 36th birthday by the completion of the national competition. Competitors qualify at the time the state application is submitted and the completion of the national competition is the day awards are given out (January 11, 2027). [Meaning for the 2026 contest year, an applicant must be born on or after on or after January 12, 1991.]
- Applicant(s) must be in attendance on-site at the Winter Leadership Experience, January 23-24, 2026 to compete.
- Applicant(s) must not have derived a majority of his/her gross income from an owned production agriculture enterprise in any of the past three years.
- Applicant(s) may only compete in one state YAP competition per year.
- Past and present members of the AFBF Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee and/or their spouse are not eligible to compete.
- Retiring members of the Young Agricultural Professionals State Committee are eligible to apply in the year in which they are retiring.
- Members of the Ohio Farm Bureau Board of Trustees are eligible to apply for this award.
- Past Ohio YAP Outstanding Young Farmer 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.
- 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, 2019, at the state or national level are ineligible.
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. The written versions of the application have a search feature to locate any identifiers. Verbal and presentation reference to applicant’s name, state and county will be allowed during your presentation for personalization of presentation.
- The entry form and application must be completed in first person narrative (i.e. I, me, we, etc.) for questions 1-5. “A1”/”A2” may not be used for questions 1-5. Applicants must use “A1”/“A2” to denote each applicant for all of question 6.
- 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.
- The attached entry form and application are examples of the information needed for the official online application. Authorized state Farm Bureau representatives will have access to the online portal for official state submission. No emailed or mailed entry forms will be accepted.
- State Farm Bureaus have permission to reproduce the attached entry form for state-level competition or as a recruitment tool.
- It will be up to the judges’ discretion to deduct points if applicants include activities before they were 18.
Note: Disregard of the guidelines will result in disqualification of the application.
I have read and understand the eligibility and application guidelines.

Yes
Note: Once you start the JotForm application, you are unable to save your work and return later. Click here to download a pdf version of the application for reference prior to starting your form JotForm application. Only applications submitted through this JotForm will be considered for the award.

Award Judging

Each application will be shared with a panel of judges for their review. Below is the scoring rubric and review process for the state competition.

Application Judging

All applications will be judged prior to the Winter Leadership Experience by representatives from the industry. These are the only judges that will be reviewing and scoring the applications.
All judges will use the application rubric to score the applications.
The following breakdown of points will be used for the application:

Questions 2-3: Impact on Ag and Issues Facing Ag	180 points
Question 4: Goals	40 points
Question 5a: Farm Bureau Experience	90 points
Question 5b-c: Other Leadership Experience	80 points
Application Form - Free of errors, proper punctuation, etc.	10 points
Total	400 points

Presentation Judging

The top applicants will be invited to participate in the presentation round of the competition at the Winter Leadership Experience.
The presentation will be an interactive, 25-minute presentation in which the applicant(s) has an opportunity to share the contents of their entire application in narrative form.
The only visual aid an applicant may use is a PowerPoint or Prezi presentation. No props, sound, or video, will be allowed.
All judges will use the presentation rubric to score the presentations.

The following breakdown of points will be used for the presentation:

Delivery of Presentation	30 points
Content of Presentation	40 points
Responses to Questions	30 points
Total	100 points

Prizes

The top applicants receive a finalist award package valued at over $1,200. The overall award winner receives an award package valued at over $10,000.

Award Winner
- Expense-paid trip to the Ohio Farm Bureau Annual Meeting and Kick-Off Luncheon in December (Four Guest Tickets included)
- Expense-paid trip to the American Farm Bureau Annual Convention as the national competitor, January 8-12, 2027 in Charlotte, NC
- Media package
- $3,000 cash prize of choice
Award Finalists
- Expense-paid trip to the Winter Leadership Experience Jan. 23-24, 2026
- Embroidered Ohio Farm Bureau branded apparel
- $250 Cash Award
Applications Due: December 1, 2025

Questions? Contact yap@ofbf.org

Application Information
Applicant 1 (A1) Name:*

First NameLast Name
Applicant 2 (A2) Name:

First NameLast Name
A1 Email:*
example@example.com
A2 Email:
example@example.com
A1 Phone Number:*
A2 Phone Number:
A1 Date of Birth*

MonthDayYear
Date
A2 Date of Birth

MonthDayYear
Date
Ohio Farm Bureau Membership ID #*
Not sure were to find your member ID#? Go to https://ofbf.org/login/ to access your member account and your ID# will be in the upper left side of your profile page OR contact your county Farm Bureau for assistance. County Farm Bureau contact information can be found at https://ofbf.org/community/counties/
County of Farm Bureau Membership*
Mailing Address*

Street Address

Street Address Line 2

CityState / Province

Postal / Zip Code

Excellence in Agriculture Application

Note: Remember to write in first person narrative (i.e. I, me, we, etc.) for questions 1-5. Remember no state-specific identifiers.
1. PERSONAL BACKGROUND: Family, Education, and Personal Interests

0/2000
2. IMPACT ON AGRICULTURE: Clearly describe the efforts the applicant(s) has taken to positively promote and impact the agriculture industry. Examples may include things such as hosting farm tours, legislative visits, writing a blog, etc.

0/2500
3. ISSUES FACING AGRICULTURE: Agriculture faces important issues at the local, state, national, and international levels. Explaining three important issues that the industry needs to address in the next five years. Choose one issue from three of the four levels mentioned above. For example, and applicant might select ag literacy as a local issue, mental health as a state issue and rural broadband as a national issue

0/5000
4. GOALS: What goals does the applicant(s) have for the next five years related to his/her career, Farm Bureau involvement and involvement with other organizations? What steps have been made to reach these goals?

0/2500
5. LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE: A. LIST Farm Bureau leadership roles, involvement opportunities, recognitions and/or awards received by the applicant(s), including service on committees, boards or as officers. Please include years of involvement. (Example: County Farm Bureau President 2020-Present)

0/5000
5. LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE: B. List other agricultural leadership involvement opportunities, recognitions, and/or awards received by the applicant(s), indicating service on committees, boards or as officers. (i.e. Farm Credit, Soil Conservation, Farm Service Agency, Farm Cooperatives, 4-H, etc). Please include organization, description, and years of involvement.

0/5000
5. LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE: C. List other community and non-agricultural leadership roles, involvement opportunities, recognitions, and/or awards received by the applicant(s), indicating service on committees, boards as officers (i.e. Civic/Service Clubs, Church, School, Volunteer Leadership, etc). Please include organization, description and years of involvement.

0/5000
If you had any situations or circumstances that may have affected your leadership experience, please use this space to explain.

Note: There are no points associated to this section and can be left blank.0/250
Should be Empty:

YAP Excellence in Ag Award Application

Award Judging

Application Information

Excellence in Agriculture Application