Background
The Discussion Meet is a competition promoted by the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation (SCFB) Young Farmers & Ranchers (YF&R) Committee. Farm Bureau’s strength depends on its members’ abilities to analyze agricultural issues and decide on solutions that best meet their needs. The competition is designed to simulate a committee meeting where discussion and active participation are expected from each committee member. Participants build basic discussion skills, develop a keen understanding of important agricultural issues and explore how groups can pool knowledge to reach consensus and solve problems. Successful participants are productive thinkers rather than emotional persuaders. They will assist the group in creating ways to implement the solutions discussed and highlight Farm Bureau’s involvement in those actions/steps. The winner of this competition, as part of the state recognition award, will be provided an expenses-paid trip to compete in the 2025 American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) YF&R Discussion Meet held in San Antonio, Texas, on January14-29th. 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 Discussion Meet participant is requested on the entry form. ALL INFORMATION IS HANDLED IN STRICT CONFIDENCE AND IS DESTROYED AFTER JUDGING IS COMPLETED.
Eligibility
-
Participant shall be a Farm Bureau member between the ages of 18 and 35 in good standing with their county Farm Bureau. The individual shall have reached their 18th birthday at the time they qualify for the state competition and shall not have reached their 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 29, 2026).
-
Participant must be actively engaged in agriculture.
-
Participant may only compete in one national YF&R competition per year.
-
Past and present members of the AFBF Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee and/or their spouse are not eligible to compete.
-
Applicant must be in attendance on-site at the AFBF Annual Convention to compete nationally.
-
Previous AFBF Discussion Meet competitors are not eligible to compete. Past state YF&R Discussion Meet winners are eligible if they have not previously competed at the national level.
-
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 at the state or national level since January 1, 2019, are ineligible.
-
Professional speakers are not eligible to compete. Professional speakers are those who have received a fee, royalty or honorarium for speaking (i.e., paid speaking appearances or speaking engagements) within 24 months prior to this annual competition. This excludes reimbursement for travel or expenses attendant to the appearance.
-
To the best of his/her knowledge, participant must be available to compete in the AFBF YF&R Discussion Meet held on January 24-27, 2025, in San Antonio, Texas. This would be required if he/she were deemed the SCFB Discussion Meet Winner.
Note: Disregard of the guidelines will result in disqualification of the application.
Virtual Convention:
If AFBF is unable to hold the 2025 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 2025 to ensure eligibility for future years.
Competition:
- The participants will discuss pre-selected topics using four bases for the general discussion: cooperation, constructive criticism, problem solving and communication.
- The competition will consist of two rounds: one opening round, and the Final Four.
- All competitors will compete in the first round. The top 4 competitors based on judges’ scores will move on to the Final Four round in order to determine the winner.
- Each round will begin with a 30-second opening statement and end with a one-minute closing statement by each participant.
- During each round, participants will have 25 minutes of open discussion, followed by one minute of quiet time.
**Please refer to the separate rubric document for all scoring criteria.
Prize Package:
The winner will receive:
- An EZ-GO Golf Cart
- A voucher for up to $500 in STIHL merchandise provided by STIHL
- A trip to compete (required) at the American Farm Bureau (AFBF) Annual Convention in San Antonio, Texas (January 24-29, 2025)*
- A one-night stay at the 2025 SCFB YF&R Conference in Hilton Head, SC (February 7-8, 2025)*, and
- An opportunity to attend the 2025 AFBF Fusion Conference in Denver, Colorado, March 7-10, 2026 *
The FINAL FOUR will receive:
All participants will receive:
- All participants who do not advance to the Final Four will receive a $75 VISA gift card.
*Disclaimers for Awards & Competitions: Awards programs are subject to change. Out-of-town trips are based upon availability. Winner must agree to represent SCFB in the national competition to receive the prize package.
Deadline:
The state’s entry form must be submitted via the online portal on or before 11:59 p.m. EST October 1, 2024.
If selected as the state winner, the competitor agrees to submit the national application and supporting documents to the State YF&R Coordinator no later than 12:00PM (noon) December 8, 2024. The national entry form includes a signature page, competitor bio, and 2-3 pictures of the applicant and their agricultural operation or involvement.