Finalists Named in Nebraska Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Discussion Meet
KEARNEY, NEB. – Four finalists in the Young Farmers and Ranchers (YF&R) Discussion Meet contest have been named after competing in preliminary rounds during the 2021 Young Farmers and Ranchers Conference held Jan. 29-30 in Kearney.
Lance Atwater of Ary, Sean Krebs of Clearwater, Erin Norman of Crawford, and Clay Patton of Lexington advanced to the final round of the Nebraska Farm Bureau (NEFB) YF&R Discussion Meet to be held at the next NEFB Annual Convention, Dec. 5-7, 2021.
Rather than debating, contestants work to develop a solution to a problem being discussed, building on each other’s contributions. Competitors in the annual contest must be prepared to speak on any number of agriculture-related topics; the selected question is announced a short time prior to the contest round. Finalists received the top scores of contestants after competing in two rounds of the discussion meet at the YF&R Conference.
Atwater is an Adams/Webster County Farm Bureau member who grows yellow corn, popcorn, soybeans, non-GMO white corn, and has a small cow/calf operation. He currently serves on the NEFB Board of Directors as the Youth At-Large representative. Atwater lives on the family farm with his wife, Krystal, and son Ryker.
Krebs is an Antelope County Farm Bureau member and a student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, majoring in Agriculture Engineering. He grows popcorn, field corn, and soybeans on his family farm, as well as raising cow/calf pairs.
Norman is a Dawes County Farm Bureau member and serves on the YF&R Committee. She is a teacher at Chadron State College and is a registered dietician. Norman lives on the family ranch with her husband, Luke, and their five children, Ada, Ben, Claire, Axel, and Ethan.
Patton is a Dawson County Farm Bureau member. He is the Market Anchor for the Rural Radio Network at KRVN and his wife, Janell, is a vet tech in their community. They live on a small acreage where they raise hay and goats.
Grant Dahlgren of Bertrand and Chase Hoffschneider of Burwell were named alternates.
Finalists received a $50 prize and a chance to compete for $500 and an all-expenses paid trip to compete in the American Farm Bureau Discussion Meet in Atlanta, Ga. in January 2022. Farm Bureau members between the ages of 18 and 35 are eligible to compete in the Young Farmers and Ranchers Discussion Meet. For more information, visit www.nefb.org/yfr.
The Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation is a grassroots, statewide organization dedicated to supporting farm and ranch families and working for the benefit of all Nebraskans through a wide variety of educational, service and advocacy efforts. More than 58,000 families across Nebraska are Farm Bureau members, working together to achieve rural and urban prosperity as agriculture is a key fuel to Nebraska’s economy. For more information about Nebraska Farm Bureau and agriculture, visit www.nefb.org.
