SAN ANTONIO—Three outstanding Virginia young farmers will head to San Antonio this month to participate in national competitions for which they earned state-level accolades in 2024.

On Dec. 3 at the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention, Marshall Slaven of Augusta County took top honors in the VFBF Young Farmers Discussion Meet.

Earlier in 2024, Bradley Ragsdale of Pittsylvania County was named the VFBF Young Farmers Achievement Award winner, and Morgan Slaven of Augusta County, Marshall’s sister, received the VFBF Young Farmers Excellence in Agriculture Award.

The American Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmers & Ranchers program helps young Farm Bureau members shape their future and American agriculture through leadership development and personal growth opportunities. The three competitions enable members to showcase their leadership experience, communication skills and successful business plans as they compete against the best of the best from each state Farm Bureau.

Marshall Slaven and his wife, Joy, raise 1,200 head of beef cattle. He also provides custom hay baling and wrapping services to other farmers, transports manure on contract, brokers straw to several large dairies and other cattle operations, and assists his father with the family fencing business and raising 500 brood cows.

Ragsdale is a fourth-generation tobacco, grain and beef cattle farmer who has helped manage, innovate and expand his family’s 1,000-acre operation since 2009, including acquiring an additional 90 acres of cropland in 2015. He also serves on the Pittsylvania County Farm Bureau board and is an active participant in the VFBF Young Farmers Program.

Morgan Slaven serves as manager of governance and executive affairs for Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative while managing a 40-head commercial hair sheep flock on her Augusta County farm. She also serves as chair of her county Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers Committee and vice president of her county Farm Bureau board. She formerly served on the VFBF Young Farmers Committee and as the committee’s vice chair and chair of its promotions subcommittee.

The Virginia winners will compete for prizes at the national level. The top four competitors in the AFBF Achievement Award, Discussion Meet and Excellence in Ag competitions will receive:

• 1st Place: $35,000 credit toward a new Ford vehicle and paid registration to the AFBF FUSION Conference in Denver, Colorado, courtesy of Ford
   
• 2nd Place: $25,000 credit toward a new Case IH piece of equipment, courtesy of Case IH
   
• 3rd Place: $2,500 Investing in Your Future cash prize courtesy of AmericanAg™; $2,500 of Stanley Black & Decker merchandise courtesy of Stanley Black & Decker; and a Case IH-branded safe courtesy of Case IH
   
• 4th Place: Case IH-branded Solo Stove® courtesy of Case IH

Media: Contact Kelly Roberts, VFBF vice president of special programs, at 804-837-6194, or Mike Tomko, AFBF director of communications, at 202-406-3642.