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The 2022 Young Ag Professionals Winter Leadership Experience was held this past weekend at the Duke Energy Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Young Ag Professionals from Brown, Clermont and Highland counties attended the 2022 Winter Leadership Experience. During this time our professionals were able to network with others around the state of Ohio, listen to keynote speakers such as Bill Patterson, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation’s president and Zippy Duvall, American Farm Bureau’s president, and had the opportunity to attend a variety of sessions to expand their knowledge on agricultural topics.

“This year’s YAP conference was a great opportunity to continue building relationships and connecting with other young professionals from across the state. The conference brings together like-minded individuals who not only have a passion for agriculture but a desire to make a difference in their own community and positively impact the world,” said attendee Sarah Ison, from Clermont County.

The American Farm Bureau Federation President, Zippy Duvall, (pictured above) said it best during the opening ceremonies: “If you want to make a difference in your family, community and the world, you have to go outside your fence row.” 

Zippy continued his motivating speech by sharing that it is important to identify what is important to you. If you don’t like the direction something is going than it is up to YOU to go change it. Because if you don’t, someone else will. 

The break out sessions had speakers and topics covering a wide variety of topics. A few sessions that our members attended were “Turning Your Dream into Dough,” “Navigating Niche Markets” and “Social Media: Using it to build trust with customers.” These sessions talked about creating a business plan in addition to agricultural advocacy. There were even specific sessions about growing hops and rural home buying. 

Brown County Young Ag Professionals member, Adrianne Moran shared, “This was my third Winter Leadership Experience that I’ve attended, and they just keep getting better. Having the opportunity to grow my knowledge in addition to networking with new and old friends have led me to leaving the conference feeling inspired and motivated. It’s definitely one of my favorite benefits from being a Young Ag Professional.” 

Young Active Members ages 18-24 enjoy all the benefits that our active members do, including having a voice in Farm Bureau’s ongoing advocacy and policy efforts. Farmers, agriculture students, or those whose work is directly impacted by the health of Ohio agriculture are invited to become a young active member.”  Learn more here!