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Young Farmers put the future of Farm Bureau and agriculture into their own hands during their annual summer conference at Deer Creek State Park Resort July 11 and 12.

The young farmers discussed three important questions during a "time out" at the conference. They discussed and answered the following questions:

17. How can Farm Bureau get more young farmers involved?

1. 1. Have a family fun day for young farmers at the county and regional levels

2. Get more people involved in Farm Bureau Youth

3. Continue with scholarship programs

Q. What is the most important thing Farm Bureau can do for young farmers?

A. 1. Offer education about many different topics, but especially economics

2. Keep young farmers informed about the issues facing farmers

3. Continue with legislative representation

Q. What do young farmers need to get started in farming?

A. 1. A working relationship with local business owners

2. Business knowledge

3. Resources – money and people

"This group was very positive about agriculture and the future," said Darrell Rubel, OFBF director of young leader programs. "They got to come to this conference and learn about the organization. But most importantly, they learn about their responsibility to agriculture. They learn that it is important for them to make the phone calls to their legislators, and it’s their responsibility to be good stewards of agriculture."

OFBF President Terry McClure further drove that point home during his address to the group. He talked to them about how their personal involvement in Farm Bureau is important. Jack Fisher, OFBF executive vice president, taught the group about the OFBF state structure and how it works.

Some of the other workshops included OFBF Vice President Bob Peterson’s session on Getting a Hold on Policy Development. During this time, Peterson highlighted advisory councils and how they are important to OFBF’s policy development structure.

To give the young farmers a better understanding of cooperatives, Roger Nicol and Ronnie Mohr of Land O’Lakes and Dave Patterson and Mike Eastlake of Western Reserve Co-op talked about cooperative teamwork. They explained how cooperatives work and why they are beneficial.

The young farmers also took part in a mock discussion meet. The topic was "What is your definition of a mega farm?" "They came up with a lot of different answers," Rubel said. "One of the more interesting ones was, ‘A mega farm is one that is operated by a company whose primary profit does not come from the farm.’ This really was a good group who put a lot of thought into every part of the conference."