Brian and Lynn Martin of Centralia were named the winners of the Missouri Farm Bureau (MOFB) Young Farmers and Ranchers (YF&R) Achievement Award during the organization’s virtual Annual Meeting held earlier this month. The Achievement Award recognizes the management and leadership skills of young adults who work full-time on a farm or ranch.
The Martins, runners-up for this award in 2019, earned a $500 check from the MOFB Foundation for Agriculture and a $500 check from Ford Motor Company. The Boone County farm couple will also represent Missouri at the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) YF&R Achievement Award contest virtually this January. As part of the AFBF Virtual Annual Meeting, they will compete for the grand prize of a new Ford truck and paid registration to the 2021 AFBF YF&R Conference. The runner-up wins a Case IH Farmall 50A tractor from Case IH, while third- and fourth-place earn a combination of prizes, such as 40” tool cabinets, a $500 Case IH parts card and Stanley Black & Decker merchandise.
The duo were active members of multiple youth organizations prior to running 155 acres of a solely owned farming operation. They have more than 2,000 acres combined in partnership or rented/leased, where corn, soybeans, winter wheat and cover crops are grown. In addition, they also have livestock with registered angus, commercial cows and quarter horses.
Within Farm Bureau, Brian and Lynn have served as county board members, a county YF&R chairman, and county delegates. They continue to volunteer as judges for 4-H and FFA contests, present for area and regional soil health conservation workshops, and assist the Missouri Department of Conversation at local conservation areas.
Second place in the Achievement Award went to Michael & Jillian Phillips, of Clark County. Placing third were Matt & Jennie Noakes, of St. Clair County.
