DeLand, Fla. – Chad Haas, a member of Volusia County Young Farmers and Ranchers Leadership Program and lifelong Volusia resident took away the top prize in the YF&R Discussion Meet competition at the Florida Farm Bureau’s 83rd State Annual Meeting on Oct. 30.
The Discussion Meet contest is a business meeting simulation where contestants answer five not-so-easy questions and actively participate in a discussion, swapping ideas based on challenges that agriculture businesses face. The questions for this meet were about leveraging community partnerships to increase domestic energy production.
“Volusia County Farm Bureau is proud to have another one of our members be the Florida Young Farmers and Ranchers Discussion Meet winner. By my count, Chad is Volusia County’s fifth statewide discussion meet winner. This is a result of an engaged and active Young Farmers and Ranchers program in our county,” said Steve Crump, executive director of Volusia County Farm Bureau.
Mr. Haas grew up in Pierson and has no family history in agriculture, but many of his friends came from farm families and it always interested him. He joined FFA and 4-H as a kid, raising animals to show at the fair.
He graduated from the University of Florida with a Business Management Degree and opened Palmetto Reality on West Indiana Avenue in DeLand. His realty business focuses on rural land and homes.
In 2023 Mr. Haas made it to the top four of the YF&R Discussion meet. “(My realty business) gave me a unique perspective,” said Mr. Haas after that meet. “Farmers and ranchers that’s their daily business, so from my perspective I see it from more of a government position; working with the county, land use, values, how that’s hurting the farming and ranching community, how it’s pushing them out. I just get to look at it from a different perspective.”
This is the first time Mr. Haas has won the Florida competition. He received a John Deere XUV 560 courtesy of Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Company, $500 in cash and an expense-paid trip to the 2025 American Farm Bureau Annual Convention in San Antonio, Texas, Jan. 24-28, 2025, where he will compete with other state winners for the national Discussion Meet title.
“As a first-generation rancher, it was a blessing to have been able to compete against so many of Florida’s brightest young farmers and ranchers. I am honored to be the state winner of the discussion meet, and I am looking forward to representing Florida on the national stage,” said Mr. Haas.
The YF&R program is for anyone ages 18-35 who wants to learn more about agriculture as a business. The Volusia YF&R has roughly 30 members who meet monthly. Some have an agriculture background and some don’t. If interested in joining, please contact Volusia County Farm Bureau at 386-734-1612.