Several Oklahoma youth recently competed for $9,600 in savings bonds and scholarships during the Ninth Annual Young Farmers and Ranchers Speech Contest sponsored by the Oklahoma Farm Bureau. The contest was held March 15 at the OSU-OKC campus in Oklahoma City.
The YF&R Speech Contest was broken up into three age divisions:
Junior, nine-12 years old; Intermediate, 13-15 years old; and Senior, 16-18 years old. The youth gave speeches in three division categories, including Agricultural Production, Agriculture Policy and Environment & Natural Resources. Speeches for the Junior Division were three to five minutes in length; five to seven minutes for the Intermediate and Senior divisions.
Participants of both contests were judged on speech presentation, content, response to questions and general poise and appearance.
Farm Bureau presented plaques to the winners of each category in each age group.
Junior Division:
First, second and third place winners of each category of the Junior Division received $400, $200 and $100 savings bonds, respectively.
Winners in the Agriculture Production category were: First place, Derek Shaw of Talihina; second place, Micaela Danker of Wellston; and third place, Chelsea Coulson of Wellston.
Winners in the Agriculture Policy category were: First place, Katie Osborn of Tuttle; second place, Rachel Roberts of Guthrie; and third place, Lauren Ragsdale of Muskogee.
Winners in the Environment & Natural Resources category were: First place, Jacquelyn Porter of Grady County; second place, Dereka Dear of Bokoshe; and third place, Peyton Mackey of Spiro.
Intermediate Division:
First, second and third place winners of the Intermediate Division received $500, $200 and $100 savings bonds, respectively.
Winners in the Agriculture Production category were: First place, Ashlee Richardson of Amber; second place, Bethany Turner of Payne County; and third place, Tyler Powell of Guthrie.
Winners in the Agriculture Policy category were: First place, Deston Shaw of Talihina; second place, Aleisha Brewer of Wister; and third place, Chelsea Spencer of Chickasha.
Winners in the Environment & Natural Resources category were: First place, Summer Vaughan of Norman; second place, Katie Smith of Lawton; and third place, Toby McConnell of Wellston.
Senior Division:
First, second and third place winners of the Senior Division received $1,000, $500 and $200 scholarships, respectively.
Winners in the Agriculture Production category were: First place, Courtney Wares of Freedom; second place, Clayton Smith of Lawton; and third place, Ashley Pope of Loyal.
Winners in the Agriculture Policy category were: First place, John Pfeiffer of Mulhall; second place, Paige Sealock of Prague; and third place, Kelli Piguet of Vinita.
Winners in the Environment & Natural Resources category were: First place, Taylor Turner of Freedom; second place, Travis Schnaithman of Garber; and third place, Erin Way of Tuttle.
