YF&R Speech competition
2022 HIGH SCHOOL DISCUSSION MEET AND P&E SPEECH CONTEST FINALS
“Right now Idaho is the fastest growing state in the U.S…”
On February 7th Young Farmer & Ranchers of Idaho held their high school discussion meet competition in Boise, Idaho.
“I’ve seen loss of farmland and I would like to see that go away less,” said Dani Sitts of Homedale.
“You can have one industrial acre per 40 acres of rural land,”said Abbie Smith of Arimo.
“What kind of policy in Farm Bureau could support this?” said Anna Palwak of Homedale.
The competition is designed to simulate a committee meeting.
“Then Farm Bureau can actually send a request to the zoning commission,” said Dakota Nelson of Weston.
“There are these certain areas that aren’t being developed with houses…” said Ausha Covert of Rigby.
“Use not this prime farmland, but these corners of these fields…” said Natalee Abegglen from St. Anthony.
They’re evaluated on their discussion skills and exchange of ideas and information. The 10 competitors in the preliminary rounds were whittled down to 4 for the finals. That final competition was held in an actual committee hearing room in the Idaho Statehouse.
“Coming out of the pandemic it’s shared that 2 out of 3 farmers are dealing with mental health problems and struggles,” said Eliza Dugan of Jerome.
“There’s so much you can learn, even as we continue through high school and we continue through ag ourselves we’re learning something new every single day,” said Haven Chase of Athol.
“I think that working with organizations such as OSHA to kind of enforce some of these because they’re all really great ideas,” said Megan Taber of Shoshone.
