More than 30 Oklahoma Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership, Young Farmers and Ranchers and Collegiate Farm Bureau members attended the 2025 American Farm Bureau FUSION Conference March 7-11 in Denver, Colorado.
The conference brought together more than 1,200 Farm Bureau members from across the country from four AFBF program areas, including WLC, YF&R, Collegiate Farm Bureaus and Program & Education.
Members at the event had the opportunity to hear from several keynote speakers including motivational speaker, comedian and bestselling author, Josh Sundquist; AFBF President, Zippy Duvall; and Colorado State University Distinguished Professor of Animal Science, Temple Grandin.
Northern Oklahoma College student Ashlee Purvine competed in the AFBF Collegiate Discussion meet, where students from across the country replicated a committee meeting where discussion and active participation are expected from each participant to come to an answer or solution. Purvine placed in the top four of the competition, alongside competitors from Tennessee, North Carolina and Indiana. Purvine received scholarship funds in recognition of reaching the final four.
OKFB members also took the opportunity to give back during the conference through a community service project, participating in the Clothes to Kids Denver Undie 500, an opportunity to support local teenagers in need by donating fun, new socks and undergarments. They also created no-sew blankets for A Precious Child.
Members attended a wide variety of breakout sessions, including Optimize Your Grocery List for Better Mental Health, Campus Conversations: How to Navigate Tough Topics in College and Creative Farm & Income Diversification.
Members closed out the conference by traveling to numerous locations across Colorado for various tours. Attendees learned how sugar beets are grown and processed at Western Sugar Co-Op; toured one of the largest meat processing facilities in the county, JBS; climbed to the highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, Pikes Peak; and learned about the production of candy at Hammonds Candies.
