By Emmy Powell
Communications Specialist

Over 1,000 young farmers and ranchers gathered in Jacksonville, Florida to attend the American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) FUSION Conference with the intention to learn, share and grow together to build a stronger Farm Bureau.

Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) was represented at the conference by eight young farmers and ranchers.

Among them were Adrienne Synatschk, Alton Synatschk, Tyler Schuster, Emilee Haubner, Chase Brooke, Jenn Brooke, Kaitlyn Boerner and Brandon Boerner.

West Texas A&M senior, Stephanie Bushnell of Randall County, also attended and participated in the Collegiate Discussion Meet and advanced to the Sweet 16 round.

AFBF President Zippy Duvall, Florida Farm Bureau President Jeb Smith and motivational speakers Lauren Sisler and Alec Weber addressed the attendees.

The group also attended breakout sessions to hear from industry leaders on balancing farm finances, the 2023 Farm Bill, mental wellbeing, family succession planning, among others.

“Breakout sessions are important to attend because you get to pick the one that interests you the most, and with that, you get to either dig deeper into something that maybe you have a little bit of knowledge about, or you can just completely learn something new that you didn’t think about prior to that,” said Adrienne Synatschk, TFB Young Farmer & Rancher (YF&R) Advisory Committee chair.

The conference brought young farmers and ranchers from across the nation to connect and learn from each other. Synatschk said her biggest takeaway was the opportunity to network with others from across the nation.

“We met people from all over the nation that either had similar issues to what we had, or things that we would’ve never had dreamed of. And just hearing about how people do things on their operation is always so interesting to me,” she said.

That grassroots leadership will strengthen state YF&R programs, including Texas’ program.

“Conferences such as FUSION, or TFB’s Young Farmer & Rancher Spring Conference bring you out of your comfort zone,” Synatschk said. “Once you get out of your comfort zone and start doing things that make you uncomfortable and meeting new people and being around people that you probably would never know, it is when real growth seems to happen.”

The conference provided opportunities for consumer outreach, networking and leadership development.

To wrap up the four-day conference, attendees could choose different tours highlighting Florida, including University of Florida’s Entomology and Nematology Department, Berry Farms, JAXPORT and Naval Museum and the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park, among others.

“I went on the nematology tour to the University of Florida in Gainesville, because it’s not something that we get to see in the Texas Panhandle every day,” Synatschk said. “It was interesting to hear about their research and what all they’re doing.”

The Texas young farmers’ and ranchers’ learning doesn’t end with the conference. They are cultivating a new era of agriculture and building a legacy to help grow the next generation.

For more information on TFB’s YF&R program, visit texasfarmbureau.org/YFR.