Great Falls, Montana—Sadie Branham, a student with the Malta FFA Chapter, scored first place in the Montana Farm Bureau Foundation (MFBFo) Youth Speech Contest held during the 2023 FFA State Convention, March 23, at the Montana ExpoPark in Great Falls. 

Branham tackled the challenging topic regarding Gen Z Consumers: What makes them unique and how will their purchasing power affect the agricultural industry, how will farmers and ranchers need to adapt to compete in these market trends, and what role do youth in ag organizations play in this conversation?

The Youth Speech Contest was open to students in the 7th, 8th and 9th grades and needed to be between 2.5 and 4 minutes in length.

Branham won $400 and bragging rights for winning the tough competition. The MFBFo awarded more than $1000 in prize money to first-place through fifth-place students.

The runners-up included Kealie Hixson, Stevensville FFA, second place; Adelaide Meyer, Stevensville FFA, third place; Joel Stermitz, Gardiner FFA, fourth place, and Joel Standley, Missoula FFA, fifth place.

“I’ve judged the Montana Farm Bureau Foundation Speech Contest a couple of times, and it’s nice to see some of the kids competing again and progressing to being comfortable with speaking in front of people,” said MFBF District 9 Director Scott Stoner. “I appreciate that the Foundation sponsors this competition to provide students with a venue to hone their research and speaking skills.”

For more information on the Montana Farm Bureau Foundation visit mfbf.org/Foundation.

###