Member Login2012 AFBF YF&R Leadership Conference
The Michigan Farm Bureau State Young Farmer Committee is pleased to welcome the AFBF YF&R Conference to Michigan in 2012. Below are the details to date, but please keep checking back for updates. If you have any questions, feel free to contact your county administrative coordinator, regional rep or the YF department at 800-292-2680 ext. 3233.
| Date: | February 17 – 20, 2012 |
| Theme: | Your Voice. Our Future. |
| Hotel: | Amway Grand Plaza Hotel |
| Registration: | November 1, 2011 – January 10, 2012 Registration includes:
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| Tours: | When you contact your county to register, please make sure to communicate the tour option you prefer (see below for tour descriptions). Space is limited on each tour and assigned on a first come, first served basis. |
| Dress code: | Business Casual for the entire conference is acceptable Casual Dress (respectable) for the tours is acceptable – no open-toed shoes |
Tentative Schedule of Events
| Friday, February 17, 2012 | |
| Registration | 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm |
| Cyber Café | 3:00 pm – 9:00 pm |
| Evening on your own | |
| Saturday, February 18, 2012 | |
Cyber Café |
All Day |
Registration |
7:00am – 10:00am |
Harvest for All Project |
7:30am – 10:00am |
Collegiate Discussion Meet Round 1 |
8:00am |
Beginning Farmer and Rancher Session |
8:00am |
Silent Auction |
9:00am – 6:00pm |
Collegiate Discussion Meet Round 2 |
9:30am |
Beginning Farmer and Rancher Session |
9:30am |
Break |
10:30am |
Opening General Session |
11:00am |
Luncheon |
12:15pm – 2:15pm |
Breakout Sessions (6) |
2:30pm – 3:45pm |
Break |
3:45pm – 4:00pm |
Sweet 16 Discussion Meet |
4:00pm – 5:00pm |
Beginning Farmer and Rancher Session |
4:15pm – 5:30pm |
Dinner for Michigan Participants |
5:30pm – 8:00pm |
| Entertainment | 8:30pm – Midnight |
| Sunday, February 19, 2012 | |
| Cyber Café All-day | All-day |
| Checkout | before 11:00am |
| Silent Auction | 9:00am – 3:45p |
| Regional Policy Meetings | 9:00am |
| Beginning Farmer and Rancher Session | 9:00am |
| Morning Devotions | 10:00am |
| General Session - Keynote Speaker: Matt Lohr |
10:45am |
| Luncheon | 12:00 – 1:45pm |
| Breakout Sessions (6) | 2:15 pm – 3:30 pm |
| Break | 3:30pm |
| Silent Auction Ends | 3:45pm |
| Breakout Sessions (6) | 4:00 – 5:15pm |
| Final 4 Discussion | 5:30pm |
| Beginning Farmer and Rancher Poster Discussion | 5:30pm |
| Dinner Banquet | 7:00pm |
| Monday, February 20, 201 | |
Closing Session |
8:30am |
Tours Tour #1 Fenn Valley Vineyards & Wine Cellar * Tiara Yachts & Energetx * Zeeland Farm Services Tour #2 General Motors * Carbon Green Bioenergy Ethanol Plant * Heffron Farms Market Tour #3 den Dulk Dairy Farm * Countryside Greenhouse * RiverRidge Packing Tour #4 Victory Farms * Robinette's Apple Haus & Winery * Gordon Food Service |
10:00am – 6:00pm |
| Grand Finale Event Grand Rapids Public Museum |
6:00pm – 9:00 pm |
Tour Descriptions
Tour #1
Fenn Valley Vineyards & Wine Cellar - Fenn Valley Vineyards is a family-owned and operated vineyard and winery complex established in 1973. The vineyard site, located near the shores of Lake Michigan, has the great lakes climate ideal for growing grapes. Fenn Valley combines a unique climate, age-old winemaking techniques and the best of modern technology to create award-winning wines of distinction.
Tiara Yachts & Energetx – Tiara Yachts, focused on the design and manufacture of pleasure boats, has a rich boat-building heritage that extends over four decades. Energetx, housed in the same building, is an innovative provider of manufacturing solutions for composite fabrication and recently began building wind turbine components including 150-foot wind blades. *No children under 5 permitted on this tour stop*
Zeeland Farm Services - Zeeland Farm Services, Inc. located in Holland, Michigan, is a family-owned and operated business with 60 years of service to the agricultural and transportation industries. Zeeland Farm Services consists of several agricultural product divisions including a soybean processing plant, a soy biodiesel plant and a soybean oil refinery plant. *No children permitted on this tour stop*
Tour #2
General Motors - General Motors Lansing Delta Township Assembly is GM's newest plant in North America, blending the best practices and newest technology into one facility. LDT is proud to be the first and only manufacturing facility to be a Gold Certified Leader in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).Tour attendees will see how LDT harvests the rainwater from the roof, based on a cutting-edge roof drain system. It is then stored in cisterns above rest rooms and is used to flush toilets. Tour attendees will also see a modern day assembly line, which will encompass various aspects to assembling the Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia, and Buick Enclave. *No children under 12 permitted on this tour stop*
Carbon Green Bioenergy Ethanol Plant - Carbon Green BioEnergy, LLC is dedicated to optimizing biofuel production through management, energy efficiency and operational improvements. The plant buys corn from local farmers to produce 50 million gallons of ethanol and 120 thousand tons of distiller dried grains per year. Heffron Farms Market - Heffron Farms in 1983 decided to venture into the retail meat business, making natural meats available locally. Originally, their product was marketed at the City of Grand Rapids farmers' market. Due to that success, the family opened a market on the farm and two years later opened their first store in the City of Grand Rapids. Three additional stores have been opened in the surrounding area.
Tour #3
den Dulk Dairy Farm - denDulk Dairy is a family-owned farm located in Ravenna (west Michigan). den Dulk Dairy milks 3,000 jersey cows and grows all of the feed which includes 3,500 acres of alfalfa and corn. The farm also includes a state-of-the-art calf raising facility, modern milking parlor and an innovative methane digester. The methane digester currently utilizes 30% of the manure produced on the farm and generates electricity to operate the methane digester operations.
Countryside Greenhouse - Since 1982, the Buist family has incrementally expanded their Countryside Greenhouse operation. The business was originally built as a small wholesale operation and was just a single hoop style greenhouse. Countryside Greenhouse steadily grew over time and is now a regional destination for plants of all shapes, sizes and colors. Countryside Greenhouse is one of the largest garden centers in West Michigan and provides a wide variety of home and garden decorations and accessories.
RiverRidge Packing - Riveridge is an apple sorting, grading and packing facility in Sparta, Michigan. Riveridge represents growers throughout Michigan and markets approximately one-third of Michigan's fresh apple crop every year. Riveridge also represents growers in the top apple producing regions of the United States, as well as those in South America. *No children permitted on this tour stop*
Tour #4
Victory Farms - Victory Farms grows 1,000 acres of produce for primarily fresh market and processed products. Produce grown includes turnips, parsnips, celery root, rutabaga, red beets and 500 acres of winter squash. All of the products are packed on-site for distribution to chain stores and terminal markets in the Eastern portion of the United States. The majority of produce packing takes place from October through February and Victory Farms also processes and packs produce from other growers. Owner Roger Victory started Victory Farms in 1990 by farming 50 acres of produce.
Robinette's Apple Haus & Winery - Celebrating its Centennial in 2011, this family owned and operated fruit farm, cider mill, bakery, winery and lunchroom features (in season) apples, peaches, nectarines and cherries. In the fall, they have a corn maze, horse-drawn hayrides, and you-pick apples. An 1881 barn holds their wine tasting room, original West Michigan artwork and distinctive gifts.
Gordon Food Service - started out as a butter-and-egg delivery business more than a century ago in 1897. Today, they are the largest family-owned broadline foodservice distributor in North America—and one of the largest privately held companies in the United States. Gordon Food Service distributes to foodservice operators from Northern Michigan to Key West, Florida, to National and Regional Chains along the entire East Coast of the United States and coast to coast in Canada. They also operate over 140 GFS Marketplace retail stores located in Florida, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. *No children permitted on this tour stop*
