County Farm Bureaus earn recognition for work to protect farms, ranches

» December 8, 2009 «

After being evaluated on their activities involving membership service, policy implementation, leadership development, agricultural education and public relations, 20 county Farm Bureaus in California earned recognition for their work during 2009, during the California Farm Bureau Federation Annual Meeting in Anaheim last night.

Four county Farm Bureaus earned honors as county Farm Bureaus of the year, with one of those being singled out for special recognition.

The Napa County Farm Bureau won the inaugural Golden State Hall of Honor award, given to the county Farm Bureau in California judged to have made the most of its resources and accomplished the most outstanding program of work.

During 2009, the Napa County Farm Bureau conducted farm tours, issue forums, get-out-the-vote campaigns and strategic planning sessions, while also undertaking a comprehensive membership-renewal campaign. Napa County was also chosen the county Farm Bureau of the year in its membership class, between 700 and 1,299 members.

The Siskiyou County Farm Bureau was named county Farm Bureau of the year among those with fewer than 700 members. Its 2009 work included a candidate forum for local elections, a farm day for fourth grade students and new outreach through social media.

Among county Farm Bureaus with 1,300 to 1,999 members, Butte County Farm Bureau was named county Farm Bureau of the year. Its members actively participate in policy issues at all levels, and the organization held safety workshops, educational seminars and National Agriculture Week promotions during 2009.

The Tulare County Farm Bureau earned county Farm Bureau of the year honors among those with more than 2,000 members. It stays involved in all aspects of program and policy work, including safety seminars and candidate forums, and during 2009 created a new staff position to focus on membership outreach, agricultural education and communications.

Another 16 county Farm Bureaus received Awards of Excellence for their activities: El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Kern, Kings, Mariposa, Mendocino, San Diego, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Ventura and Yuba-Sutter.

The California Farm Bureau Federation works to protect family farms and ranches on behalf of 81,000 members statewide and as part of a nationwide network of more than 5 million Farm Bureau members.

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.