JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Jason and Lacy Vandivort, of Elsberry, won the Missouri Farm Bureau (MFB) Young Farmers and Ranchers (YF&R) Excellence in Agriculture Award during the organization’s 102nd annual meeting December 6 at the Lake of the Ozarks.
The Vandivorts were recognized for their involvement in Farm Bureau, agriculture and their community by MFB President Blake Hurst during the annual YF&R breakfast. The couple received a $500 check from the Missouri Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture and a $500 check from Ford Motor Company.
They also won a trip to Phoenix, Arizona, to represent Missouri at the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) YF&R Excellence in Agriculture Contest this January. The contest is part of the AFBF Annual Meeting. There they will compete for the national prize of a 2017 Chevrolet or GMC truck, and the three finalists each receive prizes of a Case IH Farmall tractor, $500 in Stihl farm merchandise and $2,500 cash.
Jason and Lacy own and manage a small cattle farm near Elsberry and both work off the farm. Jason is a vocational agriculture instructor and FFA advisor at Elsberry High School. Lacy is a billing clerk for Coastal Carriers Trucklines. Both are active with the Elsberry FFA alumni and Lincoln County Farm Bureau. They have two children, Jacob, age 6, and Lexie, age 4.
Second place in the contest went to Ethan and Lezlie Durst, of Canton, in Lewis County. The couple received $200 and an expense paid trip to the AFBF Annual Meeting. Placing third to win $100 were Jeremy and Amanda Griesbaum, of Taylor, in Marion County.
The Excellence in Agriculture Award is designed to recognize young farmers and ranchers who have not received a majority of their income from an owned production agriculture enterprise for the past three years.
