Tag Archives: agriculture leadership

Georgia’s YF&R Competitors Compete in San Antonio

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San Antonio, GA |

Some of Georgia’s brightest in the world of agriculture were on hand here in San Antonio to compete in this year’s YF&R Competitive events. The journey to get here hasn’t been an easy one, but nonetheless, they’ve been in great hands preparing for this moment.

“We’ve got several practices that we’ve had with discussion meet in particular, we’ve talked to several people that have done the competition before, several state winners that have competed on a national level before. They’ve given some good insight to how it actually runs here. As far as the other, achievement and excellence, it’s really just been working through presentations, making sure that their applications are finalized, ready to go, and making sure that they feel comfortable with the questions that they potentially will be asked. We’ve done a few practices for them as well, again, just trying to make sure that we’re attacking this from every angle,” says Levi Davis, GFB YF&R Program Coordinator.

For discussion meet competitor, Cain Thurmond of Jackson County, competing in Texas at the national level is a task he took very seriously, spending the last few weeks, months even, preparing by doing what he does best: having conversations.

“I think the preparation process was a really good experiment because it forced me to have the conversations that I need to be having anyway. So reaching out to not only my County Farm Bureau, but meeting with people within the state and then reaching beyond that, maybe some Farm Bureau members of the past or Farm Bureau people that should be Farm Bureau members and asking them questions about how are we doing, what more can we be doing? What are the challenges on your farm? And so the preparation process was long and arduous, and I’m glad to finally get here to use some of that preparation and put it to work, but I just believe in being prepared no matter what, and so I wanted to be overly prepared, better to be overly prepared and not prepared at all,” says Cain Thurmond, YF&R Discussion Meet Competitor.

For Kaitlyn and Kaleb Marchant of Oglethorpe County, competitors in this year’s Excellence in Agriculture competition, being here in San Antonio is a testament to preparation that has been years in the making, and of course a support system of fellow GFB members that have encouraged them along the way.

“The great thing about this contest is that it’s really just an opportunity for us to share the work that we’ve already done on the front end. So the tough part was the last five or six years of being really actively involved and building up our resume, getting here and just being able to share that and tell that story is really, honestly been kind of the easy and fun part, and we just surround ourself good people. So we came from a really strong YF&R committee that was really cohesive and worked really well together, and our local farm bureau really supported us and anything we wanted to do, and they kind of pushed us along and encouraged us to step out of our comfort zones,” says Kaleb & Kaitlyn Marchant, Excellence in Agriculture Competitors.

In the end, Thurmond advanced his way to the final four round, but ended the competition just shy of the grand prize, coming in second place, however he’s still thrilled with the result and the experience that came with it and says he’s ready to get to work to make a difference back in Georgia.

“Every round we mentioned grassroots and so I’m really excited to kind of get off the stage and get into the grassroots to dig in in Jackson County to make a difference and to do that and everything that I can to ensure that future generations can enjoy agriculture there,” says Thurmond.

By: John Holcomb

How Meaningful Conversations Are Shaping the Future of Agriculture | Meet Cain Thurmond

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Jefferson, GA |

For Cain Thurmond, competing this Summer in the GFB YF&R Discussion Meet competition was a no brainer, as the competition is one that fosters conversations that can lead to meaningful solutions – something he says is vital to agriculture’s overall success.

“I think the beautiful thing about discussion meet is that it’s not a debate. You’re not sitting across from someone, you’re sitting with someone. So it allows all of the competitors while they are still competitors, to work on solving an issue together and that’s actually how the scorecard is based, is that we’ve got to work together, and that’s what you get points for. Coming up with a solution together in a cohesive way is how you get points. It’s the purpose of the competition,” says Cain Thurmond, 2024 GFB YF&R Discussion Meet Winner.

“It really made me dig deeper and have great discussions inside and outside of the competition, not only for, what the farming community is facing as a whole, but also what young producers are facing. Most of the questions are really geared towards young members, how we get those young members involved, how do we even create sustainability within the ag industry through getting young producers involved? So, um, there’s purpose to this competition. It’s not a mock competition we throw out there. These are the conversations we should be having,” added Thurmond.

For Cain, that need and desire for meaningful discussions surrounding the issues in ag is second nature, as his passion for the industry and its success is deeply ingrained in him.

“I attribute a lot of where my life is today to the industry of agriculture. I was involved in FFA when I was younger. I actually met my wife through FFA, I got my first job through connections that I found within FFA and agriculture, and even the job that I work today is based within agriculture. So my wife, Whitney, and I get really passionate when speaking about agriculture and passing that on to the next generation. I’m really passionate about the industry of agriculture, and my wife and I actually just started a Christmas Tree Farm on the other side of town. So we are getting our hands dirty and actually getting back involved into agriculture as opposed to our nine to five. We’re spending weekends and nights planting Christmas trees here, coming up as we plant our second crop, and then we’ll hopefully be selling Christmas trees in 2026,” says Thurmond.

Cain will now head to San Antonio where he’ll be competing for national recognition at the upcoming annual AFBF convention – an opportunity he says is an honor and is ready to give it his best shot.

“Certainly an honor to represent Georgia on a national scale. The level of competition within the state of Georgia was immense, so having an opportunity to represent those who sat at a table with me, in July at Jekyll, certainly an honor. I look forward to going to nationals and representing Georgia and just hopefully give them my best shot,” says Thurmond.

By: John Holcomb