County Farm Bureaus Serving Their Communities

By Sunny Andersen

Through its annual County Activities of Excellence Awards, the American Farm Bureau Federation celebrates county Farm Bureaus for their unique, volunteer-driven programming. The following counties were among 18 recognized for their programs and activities in 2020 and 2021. The programs featured here focused on education and promotion.

Urban Give Back with Beef Partnership

St. Louis and St. Clair counties

Missouri and Illinois

St. Louis County (Missouri) and St. Clair County (Illinois) Farm Bureaus participated in an agricultural partnership promoting the beef industry to a metropolitan audience while giving back to those in need in urban communities.

The collaboration started with a week-long ground beef buy-one, give-one campaign in local grocery stores and culminated with the Missouri governor traveling to the St. Louis metro area to declare May beef month and recognize the sponsoring groups.

The partnership consisted of the Missouri and Illinois Beef Councils, Missouri Corn Council, Dierbergs Markets’ 24 stores, and St. Louis and St. Clair County Farm Bureaus. The partnership brought the story of beef to homes in a five-county metropolitan area through Dierbergs Markets' weekly mailer.

The groups raised $12,000 to provide 3,871 pounds of ground beef to the metropolitan area Operation Food Search food banks.

Kid Vouchers for the Farmers Market

Owsley County

Kentucky

Owsley County (Kentucky) Farm Bureau identified the need to educate the children of their community on healthy living lifestyle modifications and interventions. According to the state’s Kids Count, 29% of local children are living in a food-insecure household.

The Kid’s Kash program was developed to create an activity for the children who attend the Owsley County local farmers market under the Farm Youth Community Collaborative to bring children and parents to an agricultural activity. Kid’s Kash provides pretend money to purchase real fruits and vegetables.

Date Night at the Orchard

Knox County

Ohio

Knox County (Ohio) Farm Bureau created Date Night at the Orchard, an event that educates the community about local agriculture while promoting a fun night out. The event was created to support the county scholarship fund.

Attendees to the event, held within a local orchard, were given a voucher to use at a food truck, water, a free concert, and an unlimited s’mores bar. The attendees sat at tables scattered throughout the rows of apple trees within the orchard.

“Hop” Around Wood County

Wood County

Ohio

Wood County (Ohio) Farm Bureau hosted their first "Hop" Around Wood County, a beer and wine tasting event, July 24, 2021.

Tickets were sold to members to increase awareness of Farm Bureau and to nonmembers to encourage them to consider Farm Bureau membership.

The event spotlighted several local crafters of beer and wine, allowing them to explain the brewing/wine making process, share about the local ingredients that go into their products and make connections with potential new business patrons.

Attendees received a sample of each beer and wine, played outdoor games and purchased food from a local food truck.

All proceeds from the event went toward funding the WCFB 2022 scholarship fund. The event was a major success; members said they would love to attend again and nonmembers were asking how they could get involved in Farm Bureau.

Ag-Venture in a Box

Hillsborough County

Florida

For over 20 years, Hillsborough County (Florida) Farm Bureau has been putting on Ag-Venture field trips for third grade students in the county. Ag-Venture in a Box was created due to COVID-19 and the cancellation of in-person filed trips.

HCFB filmed eight stations that featured presenters teaching about different commodities. Videos were made based on location: a tropical aquaculture lab, a tree farm, a strawberry field, a dairy farm. In addition, HCFB provided hands-on classroom activities for each video.

Teachers who signed up to receive Ag-Venture in Box were supplied with videos, supplies for 25 students and instructions for each station. Classroom boxes were hand-delivered to teachers throughout the county.

The cost for teachers was $25.00 per classroom, and students were able to make butter, plant seeds, and play “beefo” bingo in their classrooms or through Zoom classes.

Sunny Andersen, a senior at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, is an intern in the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Communications Department.