Texas Farm Bureau members graduate from AgLead XV program

(FRISCO, Texas)—Eleven Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) members completed an intensive leadership development program and were recognized during the organization’s 90th Annual Meeting today in Frisco.

The two-year leadership development program, AgLead XV, takes participants across Texas, the country and the world to discover agriculture and leadership from a new perspective.

“AgLead is designed to cultivate and enhance skills and traits needed to be an effective agricultural leader,” said Roger Hall, TFB associate director of Organization division, Leader Development. “Through this program, members strengthened their skills as leaders and developed a strong voice for agriculture in their various communities, whether that’s at schools, local politics, the state legislature or city and county government.”

Members also developed a deeper understanding of communication skills, public policy, regulatory activities and political advocacy.

“AgLead empowers farmers and ranchers to continue the proud legacy of Texas agriculture,” Hall said. “Through this program, they learn more about the intricacies of agribusiness, as well as the political and regulatory processes that influence agriculture at state and national levels.”

The program’s sessions included stops in Waco, Austin, South Texas/Rio Grande Valley, Texas Panhandle, Washington/Oregon, and Washington, D.C. The program culminated with a trip to Ecuador in Western South America to learn about the country’s agricultural practices.

The AgLead cohort members included:

• Tim Akers – Grimes County
• Tryce Berend – Hood-Somervell County
• Justin Cave – Dawson County
• Jay Clark – Brown County
• Clayton Conway – Van Zandt County
• Hailey Hayes – Calhoun County
• Wesley Paben – Waller County
• Jaret Reaves – Cooke County
• Jarod Root – Denton County
• Austen White – Wilbarger County
• Matthew Wolf – Archer County

To learn more about the leadership program, visit texasfarmbureau.org/aglead.

For more information about TFB's annual meeting, visit texasfarmbureau.org/annualmeeting.