Wisconsin is hosting the National Outstanding Young Farmer Award ceremony this year. It’ll be in Appleton Feb. 15-19. Wisconsin also has representation in the running for top spot. Kyle and Rachel Zwieg of Ixonia are one of 10 couples in the finalist group.
A committee of outstanding alumni are in charge of putting the event together, which will host roughly 200 people this year. Rich Norz and his wife Debbie are the program coordinators, and they were outstanding young farmers themselves back in 2010. They come from a diversified farming operation in New Jersey.
The National Outstanding Young Farmer Program was started in 1954 by the U.S. Jaycees in Iowa as a farmer recognition program. Each year, it honors “outstanding” farmers from across the country that are nominated. Ten from throughout the country will become finalists. It comes to a climax at the convention each year, which moves around the country. Four national winners are chosen at that congress in February.
The Zwiegs are representing the dairy state as the only dairy producers on the list, but they’ll all get a taste of Wisconsin agriculture while they’re in town. The five-day event features farm tours and a trip to Lambeau.
“It’s always a relatively intimidating thing,” Norz remembers. “I know it was intimidating for us because our group makes up a video of each of the finalists — kind of a wow, these other people are very impressive.”
“They do go through an interview process, but a lot of it is networking, getting to know our group,” he continues. “The finalists are the stars of our conference. So they’ll be presented to the rest of the membership and getting to know us and so forth.”
The group will tour Keller’s Retired Tractor Museum, Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center, Wayside Dairy and will have dinner at the Lambeau Field Fieldhouse.
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