American Farm Bureau Federation
Young Farmers & Ranchers Achievement Award
Rules for 2019 AFBF Annual Convention Competition
© 2018 American Farm Bureau Federation. All rights reserved.
Background
The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) annually conducts a Young Farmers & Ranchers (YF&R) Achievement Award competition. State Farm Bureaus are encouraged to promote this activity among county Farm Bureaus. Selection of the winning YF&R competitor is based on his/her efforts in production agriculture and leadership achievement. Participation in this program with individual recognition and the resulting publicity will help build the organization. The ideal candidate(s) for the Achievement Award is an individual or couple involved in production agriculture with a majority of his/her net income subject to normal production risks. It is recommended that state Farm Bureaus provide, as part of the state recognition award, an expenses-paid trip to the AFBF Annual Convention held in 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana, Jan. 11-16 Appropriate recognition will be given to all national competitors in attendance at the AFBF Annual Convention. The AFBF YF&R Committee and the AFBF Leadership, Education and Engagement Department will coordinate the program at the national level.
Information about the Achievement Award applicant is requested on the entry form. ALL INFORMATION IS HANDLED IN STRICT CONFIDENCE AND IS DESTROYED AFTER JUDGING IS COMPLETED.
Eligibility
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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. Applicant may choose to apply individually, rather than as a couple.
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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 national competition and shall not have reached his/her 36th birthday by Jan. 31, 2019.
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Applicant(s) must be actively engaged in farming and/or ranching, with the majority of his/her net 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.
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Applicant(s) may only compete in one national YF&R competition per year.
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Past and present members of the AFBF Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee and/or their spouse are not eligible to compete.
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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.
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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.
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Each state may submit one entry to be considered for national recognition and must use the AFBF entry form and application.
Entry Form & Application Guidelines
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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.
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The entry form and application must be completed in first person narrative (i.e. I, me, we, etc.) for questions 1-6. Applicants must use “A1” and “A2” to denote each applicant for all of question seven (7).
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The Financial Statement must be typed and notarized; handwritten financial forms will be disqualified.
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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.
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The attached entry form and application is an example of the information needed for the official online application. Authorized state representatives will have access to the online portal for official state submission. No emailed or mailed entry forms or applications will be accepted.
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State Farm Bureaus have permission to reproduce the attached entry form for state level competition or as a recruitment tool.
Note: Disregard of the guidelines will result in disqualification of the application.
Judging
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The entry form and application of each state entry will be coded upon receipt by AFBF. The applicant’s name and state will not be revealed to the judges until judging is completed.
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Judging is based on the application sent to AFBF by the state Farm Bureau and an interview during the AFBF Annual Convention.
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A panel of three qualified judges will select the national winners. The Top 10 competitors will be interviewed by the same three judges who reviewed the written applications.
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Interviews will be up to 20 minutes in length and are intended to clear up any “gray areas” which may arise from the written application. The Top 10 competitors should understand that their interview is for verification/clarification purposes and therefore may affect final rankings.
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During the interview process, only the named applicant(s) on the entry form is permitted into the interview, and the applicant(s) should refrain from using the name of his/her state or county, or any names that may bring about the recognition or identification of his/her state. Applicants can refer to each other by their first name throughout the interview.
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Values used in judging the applications will be:
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Farm Operation and Growth: 70 points
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Financial Progress of Operation: 60 points
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Farm Bureau Leadership: 40 points
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Other Leadership: 30 points (Agriculture = 15 points, Community = 10 points, Goals = 5 points)
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Total: 200 points
State Promotion of National Awards
State Farm Bureaus are required to advertise the national prizes one time during the year through a print advertisement, an article in the state’s publication(s), or on social media. These promotions will qualify the state entries to receive the national prizes, should they be the winner or finalist of one of the national competitions. Promotion must be specific to promoting the AFBF YF&R competitions and must recognize the national sponsors.
PowerPoint Competitor Template
PowerPoint competitor templates that highlight the state entry must be completed using the template provided by AFBF. This template is available from the state YF&R coordinator. It should include the applicant’s bio written in third person and 2-3 pictures of the applicant and his/her agricultural operation or involvement. All pictures and presentations become the property of AFBF.