Brown wins Collegiate Discussion Meet

2023 Three Forks High School graduate and current University of Montana Western student Cadence "Cady" Brown recently accomplished an impressive feat by winning the Collegiate Discussion Meet at the Montana Farm Bureau Federation Convention on November 20 in Billings.

With the victory, Brown will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to compete at the American Farm Bureau FUSION Conference, scheduled for March in Denver.

After joining UM Western Collegiate Young Farmers and Ranchers Club (YF&R) during her first year at the school in Dillon, Brown was introduced to the Discussion Meet by advisor Iola "Olie" Else.

Now President of the Club, Brown had hoped to compete at the Discussion Meet last year but couldn't attend.

With Else's help, Brown said she was able to contact JM Peck, the Montana District #2 Director for the Montana Farm Bureau, who trained her and fellow UM Western Competitor April Ranthum. Brown and Ranthum would also train with the Montana State University YF&R Club.

"Thanks to Southwest Counties Farm Bureau, we held a local Discussion Meet at Western where we had four competitors, with me moving on to represent UMW at the State level. Due to an odd number of competitors, the top two from UM Western and Montana State University ended up competing at State against the top competitor from Miles City Community College YF&R," Brown said.

According to Brown, Discussion Meet is a mock committee meeting focusing on the competitor's ability to effectively lead a discussion, be flexible, cooperate, and bring new ideas to the floor.

Brown said there are five topics every year, and a random one is chosen to be discussed in each competition.

An example of one of the questions that will be used at the FUSION conference is, "Increases in the price of agricultural land make access and ownership of land one of the biggest hurdles for young farmers and ranchers looking to start or expand farms and ranches. How can young farmers and ranchers position themselves to react to competition for agricultural land?"

After finding out she won, Brown said she was very excited.

"It was a tough competition. I think the first thing I did was call my family and then Olie. It was nice to see that I hadn't lost my public speaking skills after taking a year off from it, especially after all my time on the Three Forks High School Speech & Debate team," she said.

Brown is very excited about the chance to represent UM Western and Southwest Counties on the national level in Denver.

"Having the chance to talk about agriculture with other young agriculturists from around the nation is amazing. I have never competed at the national level, and I am so grateful to have this opportunity. I am so excited to learn more about succession planning, ag advocacy, farm diversification and hear from speakers like Dr. Temple Grandin," Brown said.

Brown also credits her time on the Three Forks High School Speech team in her success and said without that experience, it wouldn't have been possible to win the Discussion Meet.

Brown was originally recruited to the Three Forks team as a freshman by former Coach Greg Overman and competed in Extemporaneous speaking her first year and in Impromptu Speaking the remaining three seasons.

"I had no interest in public speaking, but now I can't imagine not having that skill. I had the opportunity to be on the State Champion Speech team and learn first-hand from multiple state champions in numerous events. I got to try different events and learn what style fits me best," said Brown. "The confidence I gained through the Speech team helped me be a leader on the team, in 4-H, and in FFA. I spent at least three hours a day practicing after school every day from the beginning of November to the end of January each season. My senior year, I did some rough math, and in my four years of high school, I gave over 2,000 different speeches, excluding any I gave in 4-H or FFA. The skills I learned helped me not only be successful in speech but also in 4-H, FFA, and now Collegiate Young Farmers & Ranchers."

A junior at Montana-Western, Brown is pursuing a bachelor's degree in Business Administration with a minor in Equine Studies. She hopes to start her own business after graduation but is also interested in Real Estate and Ag marketing. She plans to continue volunteering for the Montana Farm Bureau.