“Can I purchase your farmland?” asked Abby Vittore during the Young Farmer Discussion Meet final in Grand Rapids.
On Tuesday, Vittore — alongside finalists Samantha Bos (Ottawa County Farm Bureau), Melissa Fusilier (Washtenaw County Farm Bureau), and Madeleine Smeltzer (Wexford County Farm Bureau) — discussed how urban sprawl affects farmers and ranchers and their access to land and resources.
That you should think of the neighboring farm if you’re selling, said Vittore, a Lenawee County Farm Bureau. Her honest look at a tough topic is partly why MFB named her the winner of the 2025 Young Farmer Discussion Meet during the organization’s 106th State Annual Meeting.
“Most of the time it doesn't even go on the market,” Vittore told Michigan Farm News.
“You very rarely see a for sale sign on a piece of farmland, and most of these conversations are happening behind closed doors, and it takes somebody to ask the question and show up at somebody's farm and say, ‘When you're ready to sell, I'm ready to buy.’”
A fifth-generation farmer, Vittore helps maintain an acre of retail greenhouse alongside her parents, brother and husband. Together they raise annuals, perennials and vegetables — until autumn, when the direction shifts toward agritourism, with a corn maze, wagon rides, petting animals and other seasonal attractions.
As part of her win, Vittore receives $2,000, professional wear and a trip to Anaheim, California, to compete in the national Young Farmer Discussion Meet. Harvest Solar sponsored the state-wide contest.
“All of the outside interests that purchase farmland are going to make those bold moves,” Vittore continued.
“Are we as farmers willing to make those bold moves to save our farmland?”
Discussion Meets are a competitive, simulated committee meeting, where participants (ages 18 to 35) are judged on their ability to explore a problem and find solutions.
Tuesday’s final round question saw the contestants examine urban sprawl — how 1.9 million acres of agricultural land are lost to development each year — and what Farm Bureau can do to help promote responsible growth in communities while mitigating the loss of farms. Examples mentioned in the discussion include solar panels, wind turbines, and even data centers.
“Discussion meets do a really good job of challenging the young farmers and forcing them to be vulnerable,” said Riley Brazo, chair of MFB’s State Young Farmer Committee.
“If we don't ask the tough questions, we're not going to be able to progress down the road, and in order to do that, specifically on a topic like farmland preservation and urban sprawl, we as a generation are not going to be able to get anywhere and have agriculture prosper.”
So ask those tough questions, said Vittore, “and save your farmland.”