The Tulare County Farm Bureau’s Youth Leadership Program began in 1983 as a unique opportunity for high school students to develop their leadership skills. Since its inception the program has trained over 500 young adults, many of which have gone one to pursue agricultural fields of study in college and beyond.
Farm Bureau’s goal is to have juniors from each high school in the county participate and seeks to recruit young adults that have strong potential for developing leadership skills.
Students are not required to have a connection to agriculture or Farm Bureau but should demonstrate an interest in developing leadership qualities and be able to take advantage of this program through active participation. Participants must commit to an eight-month program with seminars that focus on county, state and federal government processes, visits to university campuses, leadership and team building exercises, ag career panel, farm tours, community service, and field trips to the State Capitol, and central coast.
In 2008 the Youth Leadership Program was nationally recognized as one of the top fifteen “County Programs of Excellence” by the American Farm Bureau Federation. TCFB was honored with this award at the AFBF Annual Meeting in New Orleans.
