Program activities earn honors for county Farm Bureaus

» December 7, 2010 «

For their work to promote farm-friendly policies, develop new leaders, inform the public, educate students and attract new members, county Farm Bureaus from across California earned recognition from the California Farm Bureau Federation during its Annual Meeting in Monterey last night.

The Napa County Farm Bureau earned top honors as winner of the Golden State Hall of Honor Award. The Kings County Farm Bureau earned the first Innovator Award for a unique activity. The San Joaquin, Santa Barbara and Solano county Farm Bureaus earned County of the Year awards in their respective membership categories, and more than two-dozen other county Farm Bureaus were recognized for excellence in program activities.

As winner of the Golden State Hall of Honor Award, the Napa County Farm Bureau was judged to have accomplished the most outstanding program of work. During 2010, the county Farm Bureau embarked on an ambitious program of activities that included work with local, state and federal representatives on numerous land use, taxation, water quality and water efficiency issues; participation in community and member events that included a Day at the Farm for schoolchildren, the first Napa Valley Tomato Festival, farm safety training and estate planning seminars; outreach through both traditional and social media; and certification of its office as a "Napa Green Business."

Napa County Farm Bureau also won the Golden State Hall of Honor Award last year and was named the county Farm Bureau of the year in its membership category of 700 to 1,299 members.

The Kings County Farm Bureau earned the new Innovator Award for its creative use of Internet technology in agricultural education. The county Farm Bureau creates a "virtual field trip" for elementary school students, using video conferencing technology to interact with students in other parts of California and elsewhere in the U.S. During a lesson on cotton production, a presenter from the county Farm Bureau uses videos, photos and graphics to show students how their cotton t-shirts came to be. The lessons have been popular with students and teachers.

As winner of County of the Year honors for county Farm Bureaus with more than 2,000 members, the San Joaquin Farm Bureau Federation advocated for its members on a wide variety of topics including water policy, air quality regulations, high-speed rail and invasive pests. It also works actively with local media and conducts numerous agricultural education, farm safety and membership programs.

The Santa Barbara County Farm Bureau won County of the Year for Farm Bureaus of 1,300 to 1,999 members. The county Farm Bureau maintains active, regular contact with local elected officials and participated in the formation of an Agricultural Awareness and Promotion Committee. It has been active in Central Coast water quality discussions, and its educational activities included an Ag Day that educated more than 6,000 elementary school students.

Among county Farm Bureaus with fewer than 900 members, the Solano County Farm Bureau earned County of the Year honors for a program of activities that stressed political involvement on issues including air quality, illegal dumping and government funding of local agricultural programs. The county Farm Bureau also inaugurated a coloring contest for third graders, to create awareness about agriculture.

Along with Napa, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara and Solano, eight other county Farm Bureaus earned President’s Program of the Year awards for outstanding programs within their membership categories: Marin, Mendocino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, Stanislaus, Tehama and Tulare.

In addition to the county Farm Bureaus named above, 17 others were honored with County Activities of Excellence Awards: Butte, Contra Costa, Imperial, Kern, Lake, Mariposa, Placer, Plumas-Sierra, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, Santa Clara, Shasta, Siskiyou, Ventura, Yolo 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 6.2 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.