Lydia O’Brien of Arthur County Wins NEFB Young Farmers and Ranchers Discussion Meet

KEARNEY, NEB. – Arthur County Farm Bureau member Lydia O’Brien won the 2025 Nebraska Farm Bureau (NEFB) Young Farmers and Ranchers (YF&R) Discussion Meet. The award was announced Dec. 9 at the Nebraska Farm Bureau’s 108th Annual Convention banquet in Kearney.  

O’Brien received the top score during the final round of the Discussion Meet contest. 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 several current agricultural-related topics; the selected question is announced a short time prior to the contest.  

O’Brien is the sixth generation on her family’s ranch near Whitman. She and her husband John are actively involved in the daily ranch operations. She is a graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and taught Ag Science and FFA at Ogallala High School. She returned to the ranch and is actively involved in management and day-to-day operations. She leads the way with new technologies and manages the livestock record systems.

Farm Bureau members ages 18 to 35 can compete in the YF&R Discussion Meet. As the Nebraska winner, O’Brien will receive $500 and an all-expense paid trip to the 2026 American Farm Bureau Annual Convention in Anaheim, California in January to compete with other state winners at the national level.  

The Nebraska Farm Bureau is a grassroots, state-wide 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. Nearly 55,000 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.