Tag Archives: young farmers and ranchers

Kaleb & Kaitlyn Marchant: Passionate Advocates for Georgia Agriculture

Posted on by

Athens, GA |

Few couples embody the spirit of Georgia Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers and Ranchers program more than Kaleb and Kaitlyn Marchant. Currently serving as the fourth district’s representative on the YF&R committee, each have dedicated their lives to advancing the industry here in Georgia. And for that reason, they were recently named this year’s Excellence in Agriculture winners.

“We were very excited. It was a goal that Kaleb and I have had for several years that we had been working towards. We’ve been really invested in the Young Farmers and Ranchers program for ten or twelve years now. So, to see that kind of pan out into that recognition was really rewarding,” says Kaitlyn Marchant.

“We have a passion for agriculture. I know a lot of people say that, but we really had a passion, and we are ingrained in this industry, and we just feel really glad that we were able to receive this award,” says Kaleb Marchant.

Both Kaleb and Kaitlyn developed their passion for agriculture at an early age growing up around family farms. And it’s a something they are hoping to pass down through Ag education.

“Both Kaleb and I did grow up in families who had been involved in production agriculture, but we didn’t have that opportunity necessarily to inherit or take over those operations, both of us kind of went into careers where we could make sure that those opportunities were still available for future generations,” says Kaitlyn.

Kaitlyn, who is also the 2019 GFB Young Farmers and Ranchers discussion meet winner, spent her first twelve years in the classroom as a teacher and recently took on a new role as the North Region ag education coordinator.

“Being in the classroom, I really enjoyed getting to work with students who were passionate about agriculture, and as I’ve transitioned to working with the Department of Education, it’s been being that support person for Ag educators because I did that job for so long and kind of understood some of the struggles and the challenges that are faced by Ag education in the state. Being able to work to promote that on the state level on the government level for teachers has been really rewarding,” says Kaitlyn.

Kaleb is now the farm manager at UGA’s Double Bridges Farm beef and sheep unit, where he not only trains the next generation of large animal vets, but also oversees some cutting-edge research.

“I help assist with hands on learning for students who want to be veterinarians primarily, and also students who want to get into farming. We also do research on beef cattle and a little bit on sheep where we’re looking at different types of feed ingredients and methane production that they do and different grazing experiments as well,” says Kaleb.

Thanks to educators like the Marchants, agriculture has a bright future here in Georgia.

“I feel like in my role as an agriculture educator, and in the work that Kaleb has done working with the University and in research, we’re really working to promote the industry and make sure the industry stays viable in Georgia for many years to come,” says Kaitlyn.

By: Damon Jones

GFB Young Farmers and Ranchers Gather for Summer Leadership Conference

Posted on by

Jekyll Island, GA |

There was plenty of fellowship, learning, and friendly competition this year on Jekyll Island as Georgia Farm Bureau held its annual Young Farmer and Rancher Summer Leadership Conference – an event that aims to engage like-minded members by giving them the community and confidence they need to advocate and protect the state’s ag industry back home.

“What we hope when people come and experience summer leadership conference is that they really, number one, gain confidence, confidence to advocate for agriculture and for the industry, confidence to be successful in their operations or in their jobs, but also, more than anything, we want them to gain community. We want them to find fellow members that are like minded. Sometimes agriculture can be really challenging. It’s a challenging field and so having those people that they can call and lean on, that are going through similar life stages and things in life is just really helpful,” says Breanna Berry, GFB Leadership Programs Coordinator.

The importance of the yearly event can’t be overstated, as Berry says this event is tailored specifically with GFB’s young farmers and ranchers in mind.

“It’s one of the few opportunities that these members have to get off of the farm and get together and network with each other, meet each other, but also hopefully take valuable information that they’ve gained from breakout sessions or keynote speakers, or just sitting down at the dinner table with fellow members back to their operation, back to their homes and communities and implement those,” says Berry.

Of course, no conference would be complete without a theme, and this year, that theme was “Digging in”, which describes the passion and grit producers have for the ag industry and the opportunities a conference like this one can offer them.

“I think it was best expressed by our speaker yesterday, Joey Jones, but what he spoke about during that, presentation was about responsibility. I think that that’s a great way to describe digging in, because we have to dig in in our communities, our counties, on our farms or on our ranches, and figure out what those responsibilities are that we need to do each and every day to be successful in our operations. So, I think the conference really embodies that. It’s a challenge for us to dig in and figure out what it is that we’re going to take home, to employ, to make our operations better, to take that responsibility that we have and producing food and fiber for our growing world,” says Cleve Jackson, State YF&R Chair.

As stated, the conference also offers educational opportunities, one of which is the important component of the YF&R program and organization as a whole; advocacy, in which members got to hear why staying engaged with elected officials is crucial.

“One of the big things we talked about today with advocacy was not only advocating to other farmers that are in your community and explaining the importance to them of getting out and voting, but also advocating in the more traditional sense to elected officials. Elected officials this time of year are on the campaign trail, they’re out and getting out and seeing constituents, and they’re very active this time of year. They’re hosting a lot of events and we encourage our folks to do is to get out and take those opportunities for these public meetings, take the opportunity to get out to these candidate forums and these fundraisers and things like that, and really get in front of their elected officials,” says Adam Belflower, GFB Governmental Affairs Specialist.

By: John Holcomb