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| Dana Fisher, a young farmer from Shenandoah County, won the 2013 American Farm Bureau Excellence in Agriculture Award at the AFBF Annual Meeting in Nashville. |
From
the Field is a bi-monthly column written by Mark Campbell, Farm Bureau
Field Services Director for the Central District. He writes about Farm Bureau
member benefits and County Farm Bureau activities.
Even
though Farm Bureau conventions, state and national, are in the winter months,
now is the time for county Farm Bureaus to apply for awards that are presented
at those conventions. I know from
experience that any activities that you have conducted within Farm Bureau have
had a main purpose to educate the public about agriculture or share your
knowledge of Farm Bureau and encourage people to become members. The awards are a way we can show recognition
and appreciation for all of your hard work.
Plus everyone likes to share ideas and learn about new successful
activities.
The
Best in State Award is presented to one county Farm Bureau that had the best
activity in one of four categories. The
categories are membership acquisition, member involvement and/or retention, ag
promotion or education aimed at the general public, and government
relations. Winners of this award receive
$1,000 in credit to the VFB Company Store, special recognition at the Virginia
Farm Bureau (VFB) Convention, and recognition in the Farm Bureau News- January
issue. If your county doesn’t win the
Best in State, they can still qualify for best in district, which comes with a
$100 credit to the VFB Company Store.
The
Women’s Program also has some awards to recognize outstanding activities. These awards are presented at the State
Women’s Conference in March. Most of the
Young Farmer awards are focused toward individual and family agriculture
accomplishments. But remember, all of
these committees fall under the county Farm Bureau structure. So an activity that a county Farm Bureau
women’s committee conducted could qualify for both awards programs. Ron Saacke, Director of women and Young
Farmers Programs and Agriculture in the Classroom, said that the Farm Woman of
the Year and VFB Ambassador applications are due by mid October.
American
Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) has a neat award that county Farm Bureaus can
apply for. It is called the County
Activities of Excellence (CAE). “The CAE
showcases up to 24 of the top county Farm Bureau programs in the nation. These
county Farm Bureaus and their award-winning programs serve as models of
innovation for local program development, and display the amazing ability of
local Farm Bureau volunteers working together to strengthen the lives of rural
Americans and build strong, prosperous agricultural communities”.
If
selected as a winner, your prize includes showcasing your activity or event in
the exhibit hall at the AFBF Convention, four free registrations to the AFBF
Convention and a $2,500 stipend to offset travel and exhibition expenses. Oh, did I mention that the AFBF Convention is
in San Antonio, TX? San Antonio, The
River Walk, and the Alamo. Sound
appealing? We have had some Virginia
counties that have won in previous years.
The deadline is August 30th.
I
know that I have listed a lot of awards and you are probably thinking it is
just too much to keep up with. Don’t
worry. Your District Field Services
Director (DFSD) can assist you and your county Farm Bureau. We can even help guide you for those awards
that have a more individual focus.
Furthermore, these awards are equal opportunity. You don’t have to be a large county Farm
Bureau to win. I have seen some small
county Farm Bureaus with some energetic volunteers do some amazing projects and
win at the state and national levels. So
if you have an activity or an individual award that you want to apply for, just
let your DFSD know. We don’t mind
reminders either.
Until
next time,
Mark
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