Julie Sweney of Dodge County was selected as the winner of the 2020 Wisconsin Farm Bureau Young Farmer and Agriculturist Discussion Meet contest during the organization’s virtual 101st Annual Meeting on Dec. 5.
The Discussion Meet contest is a panel discussion in which Farm Bureau members between the ages of 18 and 35 are judged on their ability to express their ideas and opinions and reach a solution on current issues affecting agriculture.
Julie Sweney grew up on her family’s dairy farm in Dodge County. She is a 2011 graduate of the WFBF Leadership Institute and serves on the Dodge County Farm Bureau board of directors as membership chair. Julie enjoys being a member of Farm Bureau so she can help promote agriculture within her community. She is the director of marketing and communications at FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative, serving dairy farmers throughout the Midwest.
Sweney will represent Wisconsin during the American Farm Bureau Annual Convention in January. The winner also can participate in the 2021 YFA trip to Washington, D.C. GROWMARK, Inc., will offer the winner either an all-expense paid trip to the GROWMARK Annual Meeting or $1,500 credit towards goods and services at the local FS Cooperative. Along with awards from Farm Bureau, Rural Mutual Insurance and GROWMARK, the winner was presented a chainsaw courtesy of Grainger.
The other Discussion Meet finalists were Riley Bricco, Waupaca County; Erin O’Toole, Kewaunee County; and Natasha Paris, Green Lake County.
The Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation is the state’s largest general farm organization representing farms of every size, commodity and management style.
