Past Lebanon fair queen reaches national finals in Farm Bureau discussion meet

A former Lebanon Area Fair Queen and state queen alternate placed among the final four contenders at the Collegiate Farm Bureau Discussion Meet, a national contest that challenges participants to engage in active discussion on topics central to agriculture.

Brooke Beamesderfer, of Annville, competed in the national forum during the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Young Farmers and Ranchers Leadership Conference, held March 13-16 in Portland, Oregon, after winning the state contest in November.

According to the Farm Bureau website, 36 competitors from across the country participated in this year’s Collegiate Discussion Meet.

Sara Bair, a junior majoring in agriculture education at Utah State University, was named the winner and received a $3,100 scholarship. Beamesderfer and two other finalists – Torrie Reed of Georgia and Courtney Taibi of New York – each received $2,100.

Beamesderfer, an agribusiness management student in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences and a graduate of Northern Lebanon High School, is a familiar face at the Lebanon Area Fair, where she has showed boer goats for many years. She also sells floral arrangements through Backwoods & Backroads Forever Floral, a business she started in 2023 after making a special boutonniere for her homecoming date.

She was the Lebanon fair queen from July 2024 through July 2025, and the state queen alternate from January 2025 through January 2026, and she has served on the Junior Committee of the Pennsylvania Farm Show. She is, according to a release from Penn State, “no stranger to public speaking,” having participated in multiple speaking events with the FFA, Penn State Extension 4-H, and in various capacities with the state and local fair queen programs.

At the Collegiate Farm Bureau Discussion Meet, the release explains, participants are challenged to engage “in active discussion on topics central to agriculture … and prepare their remarks on the spot.” Contestants are given five discussion topics in advance so they can prepare for what might come up at the event. “But every discussion is different, and contestants must be ready for anything,” the release says.

This year’s topics were urban sprawl, using technology to connect farmers with policymakers, farm succession planning, balancing environmental and financial sustainability, and making members more aware of Farm Bureau benefits.

“They take important issues that need solutions, and by having this contest with live discussion, that’s how solutions are formed,” Beamesderfer said in the release. “It’s very much a conversation — not a debate — and you’re graded more on how well you hold a conversation and bring ideas to the table.”

Stan Ernst, an assistant teaching professor in agribusiness management in the college’s Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology and Education, said Beamesderfer “does well as a communicator because she really wants to promote what she sees as her industry and lifestyle. She speaks well and is well practiced. And the same organizational skills that benefit her as a student help her put messages together and work to perfect them. But behind that is a huge passion for agriculture.”

Beamesderfer grew up on her family’s Thistle Creek Farm near Ono where, in addition to field crops, her family raises poultry for Bell & Evans, as well as grass-fed beef and meat goats.

“I always say agriculture has really set the foundation for my life,” she said in the release. “I credit my upbringing for instilling those hands-on experiences and also my values.”

She will work as an intern this summer with PennAg Industries Association. She also will work on a community project with the Lebanon Valley Economic Development Corporation to generate ideas for a new agricultural resource that can be used to sustain the industry, and she will shadow state Sen. Elder Vogel Jr., chairman of the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, during session meetings.

On campus, she is active with the Penn State Agribusiness Management Club and the AgriMarketing Team — both advised by Ernst.

“What makes Brooke a top student is that she’s driven to succeed and pretty well organized for an undergrad,” Ernst said. “In just the first year I’ve worked with her, she has become more intentional with her choices of where to put her time. That’s not easy because she’s interested in many things and wants to be involved.”

John Ewing, assistant dean for undergraduate education in the college and an adviser for the Collegiate Farm Bureau at Penn State, said the discussion meet is a good example of a program that allows students to connect their academic work with a high-impact experience.

“Brooke’s strong communication skills and ability to understand the challenges facing agricultural producers allowed her to positively contribute to the discussion during the state-level competition,” Ewing said in the release. “To be fully prepared to represent Pennsylvania at the national competition, she practiced with former Penn State Collegiate Farm Bureau Discussion Meet competitors, demonstrating her commitment to continual improvement.”

A junior, Beamesderfer is still deciding what she wants to do after graduation. She’s considering fields related to ag policy, ag communications and advancing the industry.

“My main goal is that I want to advocate for farmers and support the agricultural community,” she said. “I just want to give back to the ag community that has given me so much and ensure that Pennsylvania agriculture remains strong for generations to come.”