Farm-City Youth Council Develops Agriculture Leaders and Advocates

Geneva County (Alabama) Farmers Federation's Farm-City Youth Council was created to establish a pipeline of future Farm Bureau leaders and supporters from diverse backgrounds.

Beyond shaping leaders and agricultural advocates and equipping them to serve the community, Geneva County Farmers Federation saw several additional opportunities with the council, including giving council members an important role in helping shape an agriculturally literate community and raising the federation's profile throughout the county.

Leading the charge was the county's Farm-City Committee, which already had strong relationships with county schools - including committee members who worked at the schools. The committee shared their youth council plans with educators, especially teachers who served as advisors for career tech service organizations, student government associations, FFA, Future Business Leaders of America, SkillsUSA, HOSA (future health professionals) and others.

Once the teachers made their recommendations, the Geneva County Farmers Federation Farm-City Committee chairman formally invited the recommended students to serve on the youth council.

The council was launched at a welcome dinner, with several events for the council to participate in following. Among those events were city council and county commission proclamation signings, the Farm-City Banquet and the regional fair, where the council members created and staffed an agricultural education booth.

Integral to the development of the council members was training them to lead younger students through demonstrations and lessons about sustainability in agriculture. Council members led several programs, including those that taught kindergarten and first grade students about soil; a county-wide fourth grade workshop highlighting the water cycle and how to promote clean water; a county-wide agriculture day for sixth grade students; building raised beds for a preschool; and reading accurate agriculture books to second grade students.

At all of the events, council members wore Farm-City Youth Council-branded t-shirts. The t-shirts also bore the logo of the partner agency that sponsored the council. In addition, council members assisted the agency with agricultural education projects during the school year.

County Activities of Excellence

Geneva County Farmers Federation's Farm-City Youth Council earned the organization a County Activities of Excellence Award from the American Farm Bureau Federation. They were among 25 counties invited to display their activity at the 2026 AFBF Convention trade show in January in Anaheim, California.