Kingfisher County students placed in their respective categories at the American Farmers & Ranchers State Speech Contest held at Oklahoma State Unviersity Saturday.

Tate Ott of Lomega placed fi rst in Senior AFR/ OFU, while siblings Kelby Ott placed third in Intermediate AFR/OFU; and Hadley Ott placed fi fth in Novice AFR/OFU.

Five Lomega students competed at the event.

Kingfisher students Jentry Squires placed second in Senior Natural Resources and Natalie Garret placed second in Junior AFR/OFU.

This marks the 75th year of the AFR Speech Contest. Each year, the contest encourages young Oklahomans to hone their public speaking ability through district contests. All students, grades fourth through 12th, are eligible to compete.

This year, nearly 500 students competed in AFR district speech contests, resulting in 130 finalists advancing to the state contest. At the state level, the top three competitors in each category receive cash awards.

The event has gone through many changes over the years, but has always maintained its central agricultural theme. Varying by grade level, this year’s speech categories are AFR/ OFU, Ag Advocacy and Policy, Agribusiness, Natural Resources, and Science.