SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Dan and Megan Roberts of Blue Earth County took home the top spot in the American Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmers & Ranchers (YF&R) Achievement Award, announced during the closing general session of the AFBF Annual Convention, held in Salt Lake City, Utah Jan. 19-23.
They are the first participants from Minnesota to win the national competition.
“We are so proud to represent Blue Earth County and Minnesota in this competition,” said Dan and Megan. “It is an honor to be selected for this award. The hard work of producing crops and livestock is often behind the scenes and we thank Farm Bureau continually recognizing the contributions of farmers and ranchers in our economy and our communities.”
Dan and Megan raise corn, soybeans and farrow-to-finish hogs on their farm. Dan works full-time on the family farm for the past 14 years and acquired ownership stake five years ago. Megan is an assistant professor of management and director of the agribusiness program at Minnesota State University, Mankato when not helping on the farm.
They are also very involved in Farm Bureau, with Dan currently serving as the county president. Megan was a past participant in the YF&R Discussion Meet, winning the state competition in 2017 to advance to the national competition.
Beyond the farm, they are actively engaged in advocating for agriculture in a multitude of ways, including their county’s breakfast on the farm and safety camps and securing grants to support continued education for youth.
“We are fortunate to have so many young agriculture leaders in the state, and Dan and Megan are just one example,” said Minnesota Farm Bureau President Dan Glessing. “As first-time winners representing our state on the national stage, we’re thrilled with how well they did.”
The Achievement Award highlights a contestant’s efforts in production farming and leadership achievement. Contestants are evaluated on a combination of their farming operation growth and financial progress of operation, Farm Bureau leadership, as well as leadership outside of Farm Bureau.
