Laura Holmgren is a social media and marketing manager living on her farm in Box Elder County. She recently earned first place at the Utah Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers and Ranchers discussion meet competition. Next, she will go on to compete at the American Farm Bureau competition near the end of January.
Holmgren started these meets when she was in college about 10 years ago. She said preparation is important, but it comes much easier than we might think.
“The neat thing about the format of this discussion is that you're talking with your peers about things that you care about. So I did have to prepare. But I also felt comfortable and confident just seeking out solutions with other people,” Holmgren said.
She said the format of the competition is laid out much like a city council meeting. Participants sit at a table of four to six people. Five topics are given to them ahead of time to research and prepare for. As the competition begins, one topic is selected and each competitor gives an opening statement. Then there is 20 minutes of open discussion, followed by a closing statement from everyone.
Holmgren explained, “You come up with potential solutions, you acknowledge each other, and then you close the meeting. So you're judged on your ability to come up with solutions and your ability to work well with your fellow panel members.”
Holmgren is drawn to discussion meets because the issues that are discussed impact her and her multi-generational farm. She says the solutions created for each issue are far more important than the competitive edge.
“It's important for people my age in agriculture to polish themselves because we need farmers and ranchers to be town council members and to be county commissioners,” Holmgren said.
She has had well over 50 topics to research and discuss in her time competing, and said the most memorable ones are topics about water because they will always be relevant and important.
A recent topic that came up at a competition addressed how farmers can better work with their elected officials and help them understand agricultural procedures.
As a solution, Holmgren suggested that agriculturalists need to be the officials, and discussion meets will help them get comfortable speaking in that realm.
“If you care about agriculture, and your opinions and your desire to learn is true, then you would do great in this contest, so I hope people participate," she said.
