Amy Fannon, a Virginia Cooperative Extension unit coordinator in Lee County, reached the semifinal round of competition in the 2018 American Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmers & Ranchers Discussion Meet. The competition took place at the AFBF Annual Convention, held Jan. 5-10 in Nashville, Tenn.

The Discussion Meet is designed to simulate a committee meeting in which active participation is expected from each contestant. Competitors are judged on their discussion skills, understanding of important agricultural issues and how well they build consensus on predetermined ag topics. Fannon said she gained valuable experience from the competition.

“I think it’s good for people to get out of the mindset that their opinion is the only thing that’s right. Not everything has to be a debate. In real life, we have to be able to compromise and come to agreements in order to be effective farm leaders,” she said.

“You have a lot of personal growth when you go through the Discussion Meet process. I know I experienced a lot of personal growth just going from the state to the national competition.”

Fannon won the state-level Virginia Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmers Discussion Meet in November 2017. She was an Extension agriculture and natural resources agent in Wise County before becoming unit coordinator in Lee County, and is a former member of the VFBF Young Farmers Committee. She lives and farms with her family in the Hickory Flats community, where they raise pumpkins, corn and alfalfa hay.

During early rounds of the AFBF competition Fannon discussed why it was important for Farm Bureau to encourage farmers to support international trade agreements like NAFTA. She noted that many people don’t realize agricultural trade generally boosts the bottom line for all farmers.

She recalled taking part in an international exchange with Ireland that coincided with the June 2016 Brexit vote. “And I was going around talking to these farmers, and they said it would never happen. And then—bam. It happened.”

While the Republic of Ireland remained an EU member, voters in the United Kingdom, which includes Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales, chose to withdraw. Northern Ireland buys 50 percent of the Republic of Ireland’s cattle, and even though there were no immediate changes in trade rules the foreign exchange rates shifted, Fannon explained later. She cited the shift as a reason farmers need to know how trade agreements work, adding that Farm Bureau is a great place to start.

With 127,000 members in 88 county Farm Bureaus, VFBF is Virginia’s largest farmers’ advocacy group. Farm Bureau is a non-governmental, nonpartisan, voluntary organization committed to supporting Virginia’s agriculture industry and preserving the Virginia way of life. 

Contact Greg Hicks, VFBF vice president of communications, at 804-290-113 or Ron Saacke, VFBF vice president of young farmers and women’s programs, at 804-290-1032.