Young Leaders Kick Off Annual Meeting

It was a packed room, as Illinois Farm Bureau's Annual Meeting events kicked off at 8:00 this morning. Young Leaders (YL) and their supporters gathered for the first ever Information Meeting. Chairman Sean Arians opened the meeting by outlining the contests and charitable outreach programs that the state Young Leader Committee conducts each year. He also announced that the YL Committee has added a second Ag Industry Tour to their schedule this year. This new, in-state tour will be August 3-5, 2012. YLs will continue their out-of-state tour, too. This year, it will be in Boston on July 24-29, 2012.

The meeting continued as Kirk and Stephanie Liefer of Randolph County spoke about their experiences as the YL Achievement Award winners and Alan Chesnut of Vermilion County gave his formal presentation that helped him win this year's Excellence in Agriculture Award. Both the Liefers and Chesnut will represent Illinois at the American Farm Bureau Federation Meeting in January. Good luck to all three.

Young Leader events will continue today as the Discussion Meets heat up and narrow the playing field down to four finalists.

Alan Chesnut's presentation, which he will give at AFBF's Annual Meeting, was timed.