During the 106th annual meeting of the American Farm Bureau Federation, more than 160 Tennessee Farm Bureau members took part in educational sessions, farm tours, a trade show, competitions, networking events and much more.
Tennessee was proud to bring home the pinnacle award, which is the highest honor a state Farm Bureau can receive. At more than 695,000 members strong, Tennessee is the largest Farm Bureau in the nation and was awarded this recognition for program and membership achievement over the past year.
In addition to that achievement, Tennessee Young Farmers & Ranchers represented the Volunteer State extremely well in each of the three contests held at the national level – the achievement award, excellence in agriculture and discussion meet. Those representatives were Tracy Robinson of Franklin County, Joseph and Meredith Redman of Washington County and Aaron Loy of Jefferson County.
Tracy Robinson took home third place national honors in the achievement award contest, which recognizes young farmers who have excelled in their farming operations and exhibited superior leadership abilities. As a second-generation farmer, Tracy farms with his family on Sugartree Farms in Belvidere. The family farm is a diversified operation where they work more than 4,000 acres of row crops and forages consisting of corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, rye, crimson clover, cotton and more. The farm also has a commercial cow/calf operation as well as a feed store where they bag and sell grain. Tracy and his wife, Katie, are proud to be raising the third generation on the farm with their son, Alexander.
Joseph and Meredith Redman made it to the top ten in the excellence in agriculture contest. This award recognizes young farmers who do not derive the majority of their income from an agricultural operation, but who actively contribute and grow through their involvement in agriculture, their leadership ability and participation in Farm Bureau and other organizations. Joseph owns and manages his own lawncare and landscaping company and Meredith is an elementary school teacher. The Redmans are extremely involved in Meredith’s family’s farm, Grace Meadows, where they raise cattle and have an impressive agritourism operation consisting of event spaces, a family-style restaurant and a newly opened creamery. The Redmans are proud to be parents of three girls and honored to raise them on the farm.
Aaron Loy made it to the sweet sixteen round in the discussion meet. This intense competition is designed to simulate a committee meeting in which active discussion and participation are expected. Participants are evaluated on their ability to exchange ideas and information on a predetermined topic. Aaron and his wife, Mackenna, farm a diversified livestock operation alongside Aaron’s family that consists of commercial beef cattle and a hog finishing business where they sell meat directly off the farm, in addition to raising hay for livestock.
Thirty-six women from across the state participated in the annual meeting of the American Farm Bureau Women. Lou Nave of Cannon County retired after eight years serving as the southern region representative on the American Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee.
Tennessee delegates spent the final day of the annual meeting at the business session discussing and determining policy for the national farm organization. A total of 348 voting delegates, of which Tennessee Farm Bureau has 36, representing every crop and livestock sector in the U.S. deliberated on policies affecting farmers’ productivity and profitability. The policies approved at the convention will guide the nation’s largest general farm organization throughout 2025.
Also, during the business session, Tennessee Farm Bureau President Eric Mayberry was re-elected by the voting delegates to serve on the American Farm Bureau Board of Directors.
Prior to the official convention, Tennessee members were honored to be hosted by Texas Farm Bureau and Hildago County Farm Bureau for several tours in southern Texas. Members visited the Mexico/U.S. border and even briefly crossed into Mexico. The group also heard from border patrol agents about the issues they face at the border, in addition to touring Rio Farms, Inc., Anderson Boot Company and King Ranch.
