Twenty high school seniors from across the state developed their leadership skills and agricultural knowledge during Oklahoma Farm Bureau’s Oklahoma Youth Leading Agriculture conference May 27-30 in Oklahoma City.
OYLA is a four-day annual event hosted by the OKFB Young Farmers & Ranchers to prepare high school students for a future career in agriculture to advance their leadership skills.
The 20 students who attended were Channing Anderson, Coweta; Kyden Archuleta, Burlington; Case Brassfield, Minco; Lauren Crosthwait, Stillwater; Avery Fisher, Okeene; Devyn Frazier, Meeker; Hailey Helmke, Ratliff City; Elizabeth Hines, Tuttle; Rance Howard, Ringling; Lilly Keenan, Davis; Zoe Linhares, Broken Arrow; Katelee Martin, Alva; Hadley Ott, Ames; Kaden Pliler Purcell; Annie Schneider, Seiling; Keaton Slover, Coleman; Carli Thomas, Lexington; Jake Vulgamore, El Reno; and Carson Whitsitt, Blackwell.
“OYLA has equipped me with the resources necessary for me to succeed in agriculture now and in the future and be a voice for agriculture in my community,” said Annie Schneider of Seiling, an OYLA participant.
Throughout the week, the group had the opportunity to tour local agricultural enterprises and more including Lopez Foods, Whitmore Farms, the Oklahoma City Zoo, the Oklahoma State University Student Farm and the Ferguson College of Agriculture. Students also spent an evening volunteering at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma where they packaged meals to support underserved Oklahomans.
Students also received a tour of the state Capitol of Oklahoma the OKFB public policy team as the group also learned about agricultural policy, the legislative process, OKFB’s Grassroots issues and priority bills, and the status of Oklahoma’s legislative season.
OKFB President Rodd Moesel also shared Farm Bureau’s work for agriculture and rural Oklahoma with the students.
Participants are selected through an application process, and the students selected represent some of Oklahoma’s most promising high school students who will continue their leadership development in their local communities and beyond.
The students attending the conference plan to pursue a wide variety of agricultural degrees after high school including agribusiness, agricultural communications, animal science, pre-veterinary animal science and plant and soil sciences.
