Brad Kirkham and his wife, Heather, of Portland participated in the Young Leaders Conference Feb. 22-23 at the Drury Plaza Hotel in Franklin. The couple joined more than 400 others from across the state for the annual conference.

The Young Leaders Conference brings couples and individuals together from rural communities to learn about cooperatives, share their views about agriculture and discuss current issues facing rural Americans. This year’s event, themed “Cooperatives: Building a Better Tennessee,” offered a variety of topics aimed to educate and equip leaders in cooperative and agricultural issues.