AFBF YF&R leadership conference.

I mentioned the other day how we were appointed to the STATE YF&R committee; and this past week, we spent time in Phoenix at the NATIONAL YF&R leadership conference. I will now give you a mostly pictorial account of how it all went down.

Thanks to these floral pants, fanny pack and water bottle our trip got off to a great start.

Things were made even better when our shuttle pulled up to the biggest and most swanky hotel I've ever had the pleasure of staying. Our room was just off the lobby (which was nice since this place was seriously SO HUGE) and had a great view of the pools, grassy knoll, restaurants/patio and the mountains. If you are my Facebook friend, then you already have seen most of these pictures because I thought the Arizona sunsets G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S.

The purpose of these kinds of conferences are twofold, in my opinion. We are there to actually learn and in doing so, get to hear some pretty amazing speakers. But then we also get to network and hobnob with people across the country we might not otherwise ever have the pleasure of meeting. Warning: I'm about to get (more) geeky. It's especially interesting because you can hear about what crops other people grow- we met a lot of people from the south who make it so no one has to see me walk around naked, thanks to their cotton production. You can also ask your new friend from California what it's really like to work in a bankrupt state or if they've ever heard of deodorant. In all seriousness, it is a unique opportunity to meet some great people and learn about issues relevant to farming that often directly affect our livelihood.

We also toured the JW Marriott grounds.

And we even made it off-property to tour three different local agricultural businesses. There were a few different tour groups, and ours included a vegetable farm, olive oil mill and a citrus farm. Because of this mythical moisture called rain, we were unable to tour around the vegetable farm; but we were able to watch them prepare a pallet of broccoli for shipment, which included packing it with ice. Crazy.

The olive mill was cool, and never before have I seen so many things I love in one place. Their retail shop featured gelato, coffee, cupcakes and wine among the many varieties of olive oil and balsamic vinegars. Mmmmmm. This facility grows and processes the olives, but they send their product off for bottling.

And finally, a mom n' pop citrus farm named Orange Patch that relies solely on word of mouth for their business. I can't even show you a website. I do have pictures, and once you do, you will probably wish they had a website. They grow mostly oranges, navels, grapefruits and sweet corn.

I should mention we were there with with some awesome fellow committee members. I enjoyed getting to know them better and am really excited about what's in store this coming year! Tim also learned about a new game he now likes to play called Fart Football, thanks to someone who shall remain nameless. {ahem, Jim} And with that, I will conclude my recap of our time in Phoenix. The end.