(DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.) – Tim and Erin Best of Weirsdale will represent Florida in the national Young Farmer & Rancher Excellence in Agriculture competition at the American Farm Bureau Federation at Honolulu, HI in January 2004. They received the state award Oct. 23, 2003 at the Florida Farm Bureau Annual Meeting at the Adam’s Mark hotel, Daytona Beach. The Bests also collected $500 as winners of the Florida competition. The Excellence in Agriculture Award Program is designed as an opportunity to recognize farmers and ranchers under the age of 35 who do not derive the majority of their income from an owned agricultural operation. Participants are judged on their involvement in agriculture, leadership ability, involvement and participation in Farm Bureau and other organizations.
“Tim and I have dedicated our entire lives to making a positive impact on agriculture,” Erin said. “As past 4-H and FFA officers, agriculturalists, community leaders and Farm Bureau members we have a deep connection with the land and to agriculture. To not be involved in making a positive impact would be a duty unfulfilled.”
Tim works as a hoof trimmer, traveling to dairy farms across the state and working with management teams including owners, managers, herdsmen, veterinarians and nutritionists, to prevent lameness. He spends many weekends working with youth in showmanship clinics, and he judges many county dairy shows. Erin worked for five years as the marketing director of the Florida Strawberry Growers Association. Three years ago she started her own marketing and communications consulting firm and now counts many Florida agricultural commodity groups and organizations among her clients. Together, the Bests have recently gotten back into the dairy show cattle business; they intend to create a show string to travel to national shows and hope to develop a niche market for some of the colored dairy breeds such as Ayrshire, Guernsey and Brown Swiss. Each earned a bachelor degree from the University of Florida – Tim in dairy science and Erin in agricultural communications.
Florida Farm Bureau Federation is the state’s largest general-interest agricultural organization with more than 151,000 member-families, statewide. For more information on the annual meeting, visit http://FloridaFarmBureau.org.
Florida Farm Bureau Federation