'Protecting Family Farms' plan earns communications honor

» April 19, 2006 «

"Protecting California Family Farms," a public affairs program developed by the California Farm Bureau Federation to increase public understanding of the value of family farms and the benefits they provide, has received top honors from the Sacramento Public Relations Association.

In addition, Ag Alert®, Farm Bureau's weekly newspaper, received an honorable mention in the newspaper category during the association's annual awards presentation last month.

Because Sacramento is a highly political media market, winning recognition for a political public-relations program is especially noteworthy, said Ann Schmidt-Fogarty, manager of the Farm Bureau Communication/News Division.

"We competed against some very high-quality talent," Schmidt-Fogarty said. "It's wonderful to receive a first-place award for a project that was truly a team effort."

The ongoing campaign to protect the state's family farms and the rural way of life was developed in 2005 by a team that included members of the Farm Bureau Political Affairs and Communications/News divisions.

As part of the award-winning program, Farm Bureau representatives presented state lawmakers with "Protecting Family Farms" kits that included background on agriculture and Farm Bureau policy goals.

Schmidt-Fogarty said Farm Bureau members emphasized during those meetings that they would be increasingly active in responding to legislation that affects California family farms and ranches.

A media campaign accompanied the introduction of the program. Beginning with The Sacramento Bee and the Associated Press news service, stories about the program appeared in dozens of media outlets throughout the state and the nation, reaching a total audience well in excess of 1 million readers.

The California Farm Bureau Federation works to protect family farms and ranches on behalf of more than 88,000 members throughout the state.

Contact: Dave Kranz
Phone: 916/561-5550
news@cfbf.com

Permission for use is granted, however, credit must be made to the California Farm Bureau Federation when reprinting this item.