Farm Compliance

“These programs represent the best and the brightest ideas of Farm Bureau,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman. “Annual meeting is a great time for county Farm Bureau leaders to learn about programs that really shine in education, member services, policy implementation and public relations.”

The following county initiatives, grouped in four categories, were honored for excellence:

Education and Agriculture Promotion

Champaign County, Ill., “Your Connection to Agriculture” television series - This television program, written and produced by the Champaign County Farm Bureau, highlighted agricultural issues and topics to help educate the public about agriculture. The show is in its third season and recently completed its 57th episode.

Kane County, Ill., Bounty of Kane - The Kane County Farm Bureau worked with the Illinois Department of Agriculture, farmers markets and direct farm marketers to develop a Web site where consumers can find local farm products. The county Farm Bureau printed and distributed 50,000 post cards with the Web site address and a list of farmers market dates and locations, and developed a map and list of product offerings at farmers markets and local farms.

Shelby County, Ohio, “Images from the Land, A Concert” - This event featured photos of local farm families doing day-to-day activities. The photos were set to music for a concert with the audience able to follow the seasons of agriculture through photos and music.

Gratiot County, Mich., “Power of Green” advertising campaign - An eight-week advertising campaign in three local newspapers and two local radio stations focused on issues facing production agriculture and included testimonials from local farmers about what they do to protect the environment.

Texas County, Mo., Ag Expo - Students in the third and fourth grades in all county schools experienced agriculture firsthand during this one-day expo. Buses brought the groups to county fairgrounds for the event.

Union County, Ky., Bushels for Books - This project is a fund-raising campaign through which gifts of grain were used to purchase agriculture books from the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture’s Accurate Ag Books list for the county public library, school libraries, preschool and daycare centers.

Member Services

Fillmore County, Minn., Fencing for Flooded Farms - Fencing for Flooded Farms was an effort to collect new and used fencing material and money to assist farmers who were hit by the August 2007 floods. The floods affected three counties and destroyed several hundred miles of fencing. The drive began immediately following the floods to help those who needed supplies. Collections from around the state raised more than $15,000.

Sacramento County, Calif., Health and Safety Fair - The county Farm Bureau hosted a free health fair to provide health and safety information for farm workers and their families. The program is now in its third year and also provides health screenings and immunizations.

Policy Implementation

Tuscarawas County, Ohio, “Animal Agriculture 101: An introduction to Livestock Production and Care” - This two-day seminar provided instruction for county animal control officers on identification of livestock, basic body condition, feeding, shelter, animal behavior and handling, biosecurity, proper removal and disposal and other issues. The county Farm Bureau worked with the Ohio Farm Bureau and the Ohio State University Extension to develop the program.

Somerset County, Pa., County Farmers Market - As Somerset County was the only county without a farmers market, Farm Bureau worked with the Cooperative Extension Service and the Chamber of Commerce to open a farmers market to supply local farm products to the public, give farmers another avenue to market their products and educate the public on where their food comes from. More than 20 vendors participated each week with yearly gross sales at the farmers market more than $100,000.

Hillsdale County, Mich., FFA Ag Career Tour - An agricultural career seminar and farm tour was sponsored to further the interest of high school and FFA students in careers in agriculture, emphasizing there are many diversified careers in the industry in addition to basic crop and livestock production.

Public Relations & Information

Broward County, Fla., A Taste - A day-long exposition displayed area agricultural products with tasting booths, competitions and speakers to bring producers and their local community together.

Los Angeles County, Calif., Agriculture Affects Us All - This campaign educated urban audiences on the importance of agriculture. It included a Web site, announcements on local radio stations and development of a special Ag Day Web site as well as social networking sites to reach out to a younger audience and billboards.

Marshall County, Kan., Recipe for Ag - The county Farm Bureau provided one recipe per week for an Affiliated Foods grocery store. The store owner then selected one ingredient from the recipe to be featured in a weekly sale promotion.

Chenango County, N.Y., Multi-level Approach to the “Oil-Gas Rush” - This program helped local governments and the public prepare for the Marcellus Shale “oil-gas rush” through presentations by energy experts and representatives from the New York Agriculture Department and state Attorney General’s office. The county Farm Bureau provided information to landowners who were inundated with offers from companies that wanted to lease their properties for oil and natural gas production. This helped the landowners make informed decisions. The Marcellus Shale contains more than 516 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in southwestern New York.