The 50th Annual Tennessee Young Farmer of the Year Achievement Awards Program will be conducted again this year by the Tennessee Farm Bureau and the Tennessee Young Farmers and Ranchers on July 19-20, 2019.
The Young Farmer Entry Form & Application and General Information can be found by clicking the previous links. The Young Farmer Entry Form/Application is in a PDF document and must be typed from the online version, printed off and signed by the county Farm Bureau President; and must be postmarked no later than May 15, 2019. This date is necessary in order for the Department of Communications to schedule farm visits and take pictures. Farm visit, pictures and videos of the county winner’s farm is not part of the judging process.
Your county applicants must complete the entire ten-page state application to be eligible for state competition. All county contestants must attend the Friday and Saturday night banquets at the Young Farmers Conference to receive any county, district, or state awards. Each county contestant will receive a $200 cash award from TFBF provided that all requirements have been met and the application is in the TFBF office or postmarked by May 15th.
The top two young farmers from each district will be announced at the Young Farmer’s Conference on Saturday morning, July 20. There will be a ten-minute interview for each of these finalists on Saturday morning, July 20. The interview will be for clarification of your total application. The Ten State Finalist will each receive $300 cash from TFBF.
Each district winner will receive up to $1,000 of Farm Bureau Services of their choice provided by the Tennessee Farm Bureau, Tennessee Farmers Insurance Companies, Farm Bureau Health Plans, Farmers Service, Inc., and Tennessee Livestock Producers. (Ex. Auto, Farm, Home, Life, or Health Insurance; Farm Business Analysis, Income Tax, or Livestock Marketing Services). Winners must meet all application and normal underwriting requirements.
The state winner will receive a years’ use up to 150 hours of a Case IH Tractor, $1,000 from TFBF, RTV loaded to keep from TFBF, $1,000 in qualified Farm Bureau Services, and insurance on the Case IH Tractor for one-year provided by Tennessee Farmers Insurance. The state winner and their spouse will also receive trips to the American Farm Bureau Annual Convention in Austin, Texas on January 17-22, 2020 to compete with other state winners for national awards, AFBF YF&R Leadership Conference, and all TN YF&R Conferences. The 2nd place winner and their spouse will receive up to 250 hours free use of a Kubota Tractor, $1,000 in qualified Farm Bureau Services, $1,000 cash from TFBF, trips to the American Farm Bureau Annual Convention, AFBF YF&R Leadership Conference, and all TN YF&R Conferences. The national winner will receive a 2020 truck to keep and paid registration to the 2020 AFBF YF&R Leadership Conference. The national runner-up will receive a CASE IH Farmall Tractor to keep and cash awards. (In the event that the prizes/awards as agreed to be supplied by our sponsors are unavailable, AFBF reserves the right to substitute a prize of comparable or greater value in its sole discretion).
The Young Farmer Awards Program is the key factor in the success of our Young Farmers Conference. Of course, the success of both programs depends entirely on the participation of county Farm Bureaus. We strongly urge counties to participate in this conference. Consider soliciting new members and honoring young farmers in your county by sending them to this conference.