MFB prepares for policy, awards, education at 89th Annual Meeting
MFB prepares for policy, awards, education at 89th Annual Meeting
MFB prepares for policy, awards, education at 89th Annual Meeting
MFB prepares for policy, awards, education at 89th Annual Meeting
MFB prepares for policy, awards, education at 89th Annual Meeting
Contact: Jill Corrin,(800) 292-2680, ext. 6585, or Dennis Rudat, ext. 6586
LANSING, Nov. 6, 2008 - More than 1,000 Michigan Farm Bureau (MFB) members will gather next month for the 89th MFB Annual Meeting and do what they do best, and that’s carry out the meeting’s theme of “Building Our Future: One Success at a Time.”
The annual meeting is the premier event for Michigan’s largest general farm organization, and takes place Dec. 2-5 at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and DeVos Place in Grand Rapids.
Over the four-day stretch, MFB members will have ample opportunities, as highlighted below, to help shape their future and that of Michigan’s $64 billion agriculture industry.
Policy development
The thrust of the meeting, the policy development process, begins Dec. 2 and will involve voting delegates from Michigan’s 67 county Farm Bureaus.
Delegates will consider more than 140 resolutions on a wide range of issues, including climate change, renewable energy, wildlife management, availability of agricultural labor, environmental challenges, national farm policy, land use, tax reform, and animal health and welfare. The proposed resolutions are consolidated from nearly 1,000 resolutions first approved by county Farm Bureaus. They are presented to the delegates by the 20-member MFB Policy Development Committee.
State resolutions adopted at the meeting will become MFB’s guiding organizational policies for 2009. Approved resolutions dealing with national issues will be forwarded to the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) for consideration at the AFBF 90th Convention and Annual Meeting, Jan. 11-14 in San Antonio, Texas.
Educational workshops and guest speakers
Scattered throughout the meeting are opportunities for Farm Bureau members to attend educational workshops and hear from guest speakers.
The first educational workshop takes places Dec. 2 and is devoted to discussion on climate change and energy. The workshop will touch on the science behind the climate change debate, how energy production and consumption factor into the discussion, where agriculture fits, and how farmers would be impacted by potential policies designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Leading the discussion will be guest speakers Jeff Andresen, Michigan State University agricultural meteorologist; Jon Allan, director of Environmental and Laboratory Services for Consumers Energy; and Staci Bohlen, national issues specialist with the Minnesota Farm Bureau.
A second workshop will be held Dec. 3 and will tackle issues related to overcoming public misconceptions of modern agriculture. Charlie Arnot, chief executive officer of the Center for Food Integrity, will be the guest speaker. The Center for Food Integrity is a non-profit organization established in 2007 to increase consumer trust and confidence in the contemporary U.S. food system. Arnot will share what the Center has learned and provide farmers with tips on “speaking proactively and positively about agriculture.”
Conversation will shift on Dec. 4 to the state of agricultural affairs in Michigan - both now and in the future. Guest speakers Don Koivisto, director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture; Rebecca Humphries, director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources; and James Epolito, president and chief executive officer of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, will lead a roundtable discussion over breakfast. The trio will provide insight on agriculture-related priorities that the departments have in common, along with priorities that are unique to their respective agencies.
Discussion Meets
Contestants in the MFB Young Farmer Discussion Meet, a public speaking contest on agricultural topics, will advance through several rounds of competition on Dec. 3. The Michigan FFA will hold its state-level Discussion Meet for high school finalists that same day at the DeVos Place.
Awards
Award presentations take up a large part of the agenda, beginning Dec. 2 with the Membership Awards Banquet. Here, MFB will recognize the winners of the Farmer Idea Exchange, County Activities of Excellence and Volunteer of the Year Awards. Also that evening, MFB will honor the winner of the Ecology Leadership Award, previously known as the Award for Proactive Leadership in Ecology Management. The second annual 4-H Excellence in Agriculture Award from MFB and Michigan 4-H Youth Development will also be presented at the banquet.
The honors continue Dec. 3, starting at the Young Farmer/Promotion and Education Luncheon. Here, MFB will recognize contestants in its competitions for young farmers between the ages 18 and 35, and present the K-12 Educator, Agriscience Educator, and Agricultural Promoter of the Year Awards.
Young farmers will get the full star treatment later that evening at the Celebrating Michigan’s Rising Stars Banquet, where winners will be announced for the Young Farmer Discussion Meet and Young Farmer Achievement, Outstanding Young Agricultural Leader, Outstanding Young Farm Employee, and Excellence in Agriculture Awards.
Award activity will pick up again on Dec. 4 when MFB presents the Print and Broadcast Agricultural Communicator of the Year Awards at the President’s Luncheon. The pinnacle of all MFB awards, the Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award, is reserved for presentation later that evening at the Annual Banquet.
Project Rural Education Day
Attention will turn to a younger audience on Dec. 4, when the MFB Promotion and Education Department hosts 1,200 third-graders from three Grand Rapids-area school districts for the fourth annual Project Rural Education Day (RED) at the DeVos Place Exhibit Hall. With the help of 175 Farm Bureau volunteers, the students will make their way through six educational stations featuring fun and interactive lessons about agricultural topics, ranging from forestry to apples and sheep shearing.
Joining students from the Grand Rapids and Forest Hills School Districts for the first time this year will be students from the Grandville School District. In total, Project RED will involve 22 schools and 54 classrooms.
President’s address
MFB represents more than 47,000 farm families under the leadership of Wayne H. Wood, the organization’s president and a Sanilac County dairy farmer. Wood will deliver his annual address to Farm Bureau members during the President’s Luncheon on Dec 4.
Taste of Michigan
In other festivities, Michigan food products will be celebrated when MFB hosts the seventh annual Taste of Michigan reception on Dec. 4. Around 40 exhibitors, including some wineries and several other vendors new to the reception, will showcase Michigan-grown and -processed food and beverage products for MFB members and invited guests.
For more information on the annual meeting or to keep tabs on the daily action, go to http://www.michfb.com/annual.
-30-
Editor’s Note: Photos and daily updates from the meeting will be posted online at http://www.michfb.com/annual beginning Dec. 2.
Contact: Jill Corrin,(800) 292-2680, ext. 6585, or Dennis Rudat, ext. 6586
LANSING, Nov. 6, 2008 - More than 1,000 Michigan Farm Bureau (MFB) members will gather next month for the 89th MFB Annual Meeting and do what they do best, and that’s carry out the meeting’s theme of “Building Our Future: One Success at a Time.”
The annual meeting is the premier event for Michigan’s largest general farm organization, and takes place Dec. 2-5 at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and DeVos Place in Grand Rapids.
Over the four-day stretch, MFB members will have ample opportunities, as highlighted below, to help shape their future and that of Michigan’s $64 billion agriculture industry.
Policy development
The thrust of the meeting, the policy development process, begins Dec. 2 and will involve voting delegates from Michigan’s 67 county Farm Bureaus.
Delegates will consider more than 140 resolutions on a wide range of issues, including climate change, renewable energy, wildlife management, availability of agricultural labor, environmental challenges, national farm policy, land use, tax reform, and animal health and welfare. The proposed resolutions are consolidated from nearly 1,000 resolutions first approved by county Farm Bureaus. They are presented to the delegates by the 20-member MFB Policy Development Committee.
State resolutions adopted at the meeting will become MFB’s guiding organizational policies for 2009. Approved resolutions dealing with national issues will be forwarded to the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) for consideration at the AFBF 90th Convention and Annual Meeting, Jan. 11-14 in San Antonio, Texas.
Educational workshops and guest speakers
Scattered throughout the meeting are opportunities for Farm Bureau members to attend educational workshops and hear from guest speakers.
The first educational workshop takes places Dec. 2 and is devoted to discussion on climate change and energy. The workshop will touch on the science behind the climate change debate, how energy production and consumption factor into the discussion, where agriculture fits, and how farmers would be impacted by potential policies designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Leading the discussion will be guest speakers Jeff Andresen, Michigan State University agricultural meteorologist; Jon Allan, director of Environmental and Laboratory Services for Consumers Energy; and Staci Bohlen, national issues specialist with the Minnesota Farm Bureau.
A second workshop will be held Dec. 3 and will tackle issues related to overcoming public misconceptions of modern agriculture. Charlie Arnot, chief executive officer of the Center for Food Integrity, will be the guest speaker. The Center for Food Integrity is a non-profit organization established in 2007 to increase consumer trust and confidence in the contemporary U.S. food system. Arnot will share what the Center has learned and provide farmers with tips on “speaking proactively and positively about agriculture.”
Conversation will shift on Dec. 4 to the state of agricultural affairs in Michigan - both now and in the future. Guest speakers Don Koivisto, director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture; Rebecca Humphries, director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources; and James Epolito, president and chief executive officer of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, will lead a roundtable discussion over breakfast. The trio will provide insight on agriculture-related priorities that the departments have in common, along with priorities that are unique to their respective agencies.
Discussion Meets
Contestants in the MFB Young Farmer Discussion Meet, a public speaking contest on agricultural topics, will advance through several rounds of competition on Dec. 3. The Michigan FFA will hold its state-level Discussion Meet for high school finalists that same day at the DeVos Place.
Awards
Award presentations take up a large part of the agenda, beginning Dec. 2 with the Membership Awards Banquet. Here, MFB will recognize the winners of the Farmer Idea Exchange, County Activities of Excellence and Volunteer of the Year Awards. Also that evening, MFB will honor the winner of the Ecology Leadership Award, previously known as the Award for Proactive Leadership in Ecology Management. The second annual 4-H Excellence in Agriculture Award from MFB and Michigan 4-H Youth Development will also be presented at the banquet.
The honors continue Dec. 3, starting at the Young Farmer/Promotion and Education Luncheon. Here, MFB will recognize contestants in its competitions for young farmers between the ages 18 and 35, and present the K-12 Educator, Agriscience Educator, and Agricultural Promoter of the Year Awards.
Young farmers will get the full star treatment later that evening at the Celebrating Michigan’s Rising Stars Banquet, where winners will be announced for the Young Farmer Discussion Meet and Young Farmer Achievement, Outstanding Young Agricultural Leader, Outstanding Young Farm Employee, and Excellence in Agriculture Awards.
Award activity will pick up again on Dec. 4 when MFB presents the Print and Broadcast Agricultural Communicator of the Year Awards at the President’s Luncheon. The pinnacle of all MFB awards, the Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award, is reserved for presentation later that evening at the Annual Banquet.
Project Rural Education Day
Attention will turn to a younger audience on Dec. 4, when the MFB Promotion and Education Department hosts 1,200 third-graders from three Grand Rapids-area school districts for the fourth annual Project Rural Education Day (RED) at the DeVos Place Exhibit Hall. With the help of 175 Farm Bureau volunteers, the students will make their way through six educational stations featuring fun and interactive lessons about agricultural topics, ranging from forestry to apples and sheep shearing.
Joining students from the Grand Rapids and Forest Hills School Districts for the first time this year will be students from the Grandville School District. In total, Project RED will involve 22 schools and 54 classrooms.
President’s address
MFB represents more than 47,000 farm families under the leadership of Wayne H. Wood, the organization’s president and a Sanilac County dairy farmer. Wood will deliver his annual address to Farm Bureau members during the President’s Luncheon on Dec 4.
Taste of Michigan
In other festivities, Michigan food products will be celebrated when MFB hosts the seventh annual Taste of Michigan reception on Dec. 4. Around 40 exhibitors, including some wineries and several other vendors new to the reception, will showcase Michigan-grown and -processed food and beverage products for MFB members and invited guests.
For more information on the annual meeting or to keep tabs on the daily action, go to http://www.michfb.com/annual.
-30-
Editor’s Note: Photos and daily updates from the meeting will be posted online at http://www.michfb.com/annual beginning Dec. 2.
Contact: Jill Corrin,(800) 292-2680, ext. 6585, or Dennis Rudat, ext. 6586
LANSING, Nov. 6, 2008 - More than 1,000 Michigan Farm Bureau (MFB) members will gather next month for the 89th MFB Annual Meeting and do what they do best, and that’s carry out the meeting’s theme of “Building Our Future: One Success at a Time.”
The annual meeting is the premier event for Michigan’s largest general farm organization, and takes place Dec. 2-5 at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and DeVos Place in Grand Rapids.
Over the four-day stretch, MFB members will have ample opportunities, as highlighted below, to help shape their future and that of Michigan’s $64 billion agriculture industry.
Policy development
The thrust of the meeting, the policy development process, begins Dec. 2 and will involve voting delegates from Michigan’s 67 county Farm Bureaus.
Delegates will consider more than 140 resolutions on a wide range of issues, including climate change, renewable energy, wildlife management, availability of agricultural labor, environmental challenges, national farm policy, land use, tax reform, and animal health and welfare. The proposed resolutions are consolidated from nearly 1,000 resolutions first approved by county Farm Bureaus. They are presented to the delegates by the 20-member MFB Policy Development Committee.
State resolutions adopted at the meeting will become MFB’s guiding organizational policies for 2009. Approved resolutions dealing with national issues will be forwarded to the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) for consideration at the AFBF 90th Convention and Annual Meeting, Jan. 11-14 in San Antonio, Texas.
Educational workshops and guest speakers
Scattered throughout the meeting are opportunities for Farm Bureau members to attend educational workshops and hear from guest speakers.
The first educational workshop takes places Dec. 2 and is devoted to discussion on climate change and energy. The workshop will touch on the science behind the climate change debate, how energy production and consumption factor into the discussion, where agriculture fits, and how farmers would be impacted by potential policies designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Leading the discussion will be guest speakers Jeff Andresen, Michigan State University agricultural meteorologist; Jon Allan, director of Environmental and Laboratory Services for Consumers Energy; and Staci Bohlen, national issues specialist with the Minnesota Farm Bureau.
A second workshop will be held Dec. 3 and will tackle issues related to overcoming public misconceptions of modern agriculture. Charlie Arnot, chief executive officer of the Center for Food Integrity, will be the guest speaker. The Center for Food Integrity is a non-profit organization established in 2007 to increase consumer trust and confidence in the contemporary U.S. food system. Arnot will share what the Center has learned and provide farmers with tips on “speaking proactively and positively about agriculture.”
Conversation will shift on Dec. 4 to the state of agricultural affairs in Michigan - both now and in the future. Guest speakers Don Koivisto, director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture; Rebecca Humphries, director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources; and James Epolito, president and chief executive officer of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, will lead a roundtable discussion over breakfast. The trio will provide insight on agriculture-related priorities that the departments have in common, along with priorities that are unique to their respective agencies.
Discussion Meets
Contestants in the MFB Young Farmer Discussion Meet, a public speaking contest on agricultural topics, will advance through several rounds of competition on Dec. 3. The Michigan FFA will hold its state-level Discussion Meet for high school finalists that same day at the DeVos Place.
Awards
Award presentations take up a large part of the agenda, beginning Dec. 2 with the Membership Awards Banquet. Here, MFB will recognize the winners of the Farmer Idea Exchange, County Activities of Excellence and Volunteer of the Year Awards. Also that evening, MFB will honor the winner of the Ecology Leadership Award, previously known as the Award for Proactive Leadership in Ecology Management. The second annual 4-H Excellence in Agriculture Award from MFB and Michigan 4-H Youth Development will also be presented at the banquet.
The honors continue Dec. 3, starting at the Young Farmer/Promotion and Education Luncheon. Here, MFB will recognize contestants in its competitions for young farmers between the ages 18 and 35, and present the K-12 Educator, Agriscience Educator, and Agricultural Promoter of the Year Awards.
Young farmers will get the full star treatment later that evening at the Celebrating Michigan’s Rising Stars Banquet, where winners will be announced for the Young Farmer Discussion Meet and Young Farmer Achievement, Outstanding Young Agricultural Leader, Outstanding Young Farm Employee, and Excellence in Agriculture Awards.
Award activity will pick up again on Dec. 4 when MFB presents the Print and Broadcast Agricultural Communicator of the Year Awards at the President’s Luncheon. The pinnacle of all MFB awards, the Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award, is reserved for presentation later that evening at the Annual Banquet.
Project Rural Education Day
Attention will turn to a younger audience on Dec. 4, when the MFB Promotion and Education Department hosts 1,200 third-graders from three Grand Rapids-area school districts for the fourth annual Project Rural Education Day (RED) at the DeVos Place Exhibit Hall. With the help of 175 Farm Bureau volunteers, the students will make their way through six educational stations featuring fun and interactive lessons about agricultural topics, ranging from forestry to apples and sheep shearing.
Joining students from the Grand Rapids and Forest Hills School Districts for the first time this year will be students from the Grandville School District. In total, Project RED will involve 22 schools and 54 classrooms.
President’s address
MFB represents more than 47,000 farm families under the leadership of Wayne H. Wood, the organization’s president and a Sanilac County dairy farmer. Wood will deliver his annual address to Farm Bureau members during the President’s Luncheon on Dec 4.
Taste of Michigan
In other festivities, Michigan food products will be celebrated when MFB hosts the seventh annual Taste of Michigan reception on Dec. 4. Around 40 exhibitors, including some wineries and several other vendors new to the reception, will showcase Michigan-grown and -processed food and beverage products for MFB members and invited guests.
For more information on the annual meeting or to keep tabs on the daily action, go to http://www.michfb.com/annual.
-30-
Editor’s Note: Photos and daily updates from the meeting will be posted online at http://www.michfb.com/annual beginning Dec. 2.
