North Stratford, NH. The New Hampshire Farm Bureau Young Farmers held their 2015 Summer Games on Saturday, July 11^th. Competitors from around the state took some time off from their farms to spend a beautiful morning at The Mason’s Northwinds Dairy Farm in North Stratford, NH competing in a wide range of events.

Members of Coos County’s Young Farmers Committee took the reigns in organizing the Summer Games, planning the events which included calf roping, using a roping dummy; an obstacle course that involved each member of the team and required teammates to switch off wearing an oversized pair of overalls before attempting their leg of the course; and a water bucket relay, where teams raced to fill a water trough using a leaky bucket. “My favorite event was the dizzy bat,” said Leandra Pritchard, NHFB Young Farmer Co-Coordinator, “because I thought it was hilarious.” For that event, team members took turns spinning ten times around a baseball bat before attempting to run, disoriented, across the finish line.

Three teams with six or seven Young Farmers each battled throughout the morning in close competition. By the time the last event, tug of war, took place, the teams were each separated by only one point. Although just one team emerged victorious, all participants enjoyed a morning of farm games and fellowship. Not to mention an excuse to not be making hay even though the sun was shining.

Zach Mason, NHFBF Young Farmer and current intern with the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, said the planning for this event began as far back as 2013 when the idea of bringing back the Summer Games came up for discussion. With fond memories of past Summer Games, Coos County Farm Bureau members were enthusiastic to host the 2015 event. In 2016, organizers hope to garner more interest from surrounding states in order to hold a New England Young Farmer Summer Games that would bring together Farm Bureau Young Farmers from across the region.