Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Schuylkill County Farmer Wins PA Farm Bureau’s YF&R Discussion Meet

(Hershey) – Schuylkill County farmer Cody Holden of Holden Family Farm has been named the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau (PFB) winner of the 2015 Young Farmer and Rancher Discussion Meet at PFB’s 65th Annual Meeting in Hershey.

“It was an honor to compete in the Discussion Meet Competition and it is a blessing and privilege to win,” said Cody Holden. “The quality of the contest was outstanding with insightful and challenging questions.”

The discussion meet contestants were put in situations where they had to analyze agricultural problems and decide on solutions that best meet their needs. The discussion meet is designed to help members build communications skills, develop an understanding of important agricultural issues and explore how groups can pool resources to reach a consensus and solve problems.

“The discussion meet is an opportunity for our young farmers to formulate ideas that could help solve problems facing agriculture. It’s also critical for the future of agriculture to have young farmers informed about key issues and willing to speak out about them to the public and policymakers,” said PFB President Rick Ebert. “Congratulations to Cody for demonstrating his overall agriculture knowledge and communications skills in winning the discussion meet.”

Holden works on the family produce and livestock farm, where he is involved with all management decisions involving the day-to-day operation of the farm.

“I’m excited about the future of agriculture and to work in a profession that I love. I’m also excited about the opportunity for all young farmers to excel in the farming industry in the years ahead,” added Holden.
Holden receives a number of prizes, including an expense paid trip to PFB’s 2016 State YF&R Leadership Conference and a trip to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida in January, where he will represent Pennsylvania Farm Bureau in AFBF’s national discussion meet competition.

“I look forward to representing Pennsylvania in Orlando,” concluded Holden.

Hundreds of farmers from across the state attended Pennsylvania Farm Bureau’s 65th Annual Meeting at the Hershey Lodge from November 16-18, to set policy for the statewide organization on issues affecting farm and rural families.

Pennsylvania Farm Bureau is the state’s largest farm organization with a volunteer membership of more than 61,400 farm and rural families, representing farms of every size and commodity across Pennsylvania.