Payne County honored as top county YF&R program

[Link]The Payne County Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee was honored with the 2025 Oklahoma Farm Bureau YF&R Charles L. Roff Award on Saturday, Nov. 8, during the organization's 84^th annual meeting in Oklahoma City.

Presented to the state's top county YF&R committee, the Charles L. Roff Award encourages YF&R members to improve their local committees while strengthening the Farm Bureau organization.

"Winning this award is really exciting because we host five major programs in our county each year," said Payne County Farm Bureau YF&R vice-chairman Austin Jackson. "We are super busy all year, and it's just really fun that we get to hone in on giving back to youth in our community; that's really what our goal is. Winning this award really shows that our hard work is paying off, what we're doing for youth in our community is paying off, and that we are giving back to Farm Bureau and Payne County."

The Payne County YF&R committee hosted a number of events in 2025, including a bucket calf show for children ages 5-12 to show a calf at the Payne County Fair after months of record-keeping and journaling their progress over the summer. The YF&R committee also developed the Heart of Payne County Bucket Calf Buddies program held in conjunction with the bucket calf show, where Payne County students with special needs are paired with bucket calf participants to have the opportunity to experience showing an animal.

The committee also coordinated an elder tree to provide gifts to elderly Payne County residents around the holidays, hosted an annual cattle showmanship clinic for 4-H and FFA students, assisted with Payne County Farm Bureau's block party and more.

The county received a traveling plaque in recognition of their outstanding committee involvement.

High-resolution photo

Download a high-resolution photo of Payne County Farm Bureau YF&R receiving their 2025 Charles L. Roff Award (jpeg file).

Suggested Caption: Members of the Payne County Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee receive the 2025 Oklahoma Farm Bureau YF&R Charles L. Roff Award from OKFB YF&R Ex-Officio Member Tommy Salisbury (left) and OKFB President Rodd Moesel (right) during the organization's awards banquet at the 2025 OKFB annual meeting Saturday, Nov. 8, in Oklahoma City. The Charles L. Roff Award is presented to the top YF&R committee in the state.