Overview
The Ohio Farm Bureau Young Ag Professionals (YAP) Outstanding Young Farmer and American Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmers and Ranchers (YF&R) Achievement Award 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. Selection of the winning competitor is based on his/her efforts in production agriculture and leadership achievement. The ideal candidate(s) for this award is an individual or couple involved in production agriculture with a majority of his/her gross income subject to farm and/or ranch risks.
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 Outstanding Young Farmer application is an abbreviated version of the national award application for the Achievement Award. Those applying for the Ohio Farm Bureau contest will be expected to complete the full AFBF Achievement Award 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 (Monday, January 12, 2026).
- Applicant(s) must be in attendance on-site at the Winter Leadership Experience, February 7-8, 2025 to compete.
- 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.
- 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 Excellence in Ag Award winners and/or previous AFBF Excellence in Ag competitors are not eligible to compete.
- Previous AFBF Achievement 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.