Before I better understood this organization, I’d smirk and bite my tongue when a gung-ho conference speaker or organizer enthusiastically announced that the content on tap for attendees was meant to inspire and energize them — send them home arcing and sparking with white-hot new ideas, recharged batteries and motivation spilling out of their pockets.
Now I know better. That earlier Jeremy was more cynical and jaded than today’s Jeremy, who chugs the Farm Bureau Kool Aid like water from a welcome oasis. But what else changed?
Since I started studying Farm Bureau through the lens of member involvement, I’ve been listening more to you — our members — probably more than my own peers. More than any other input, what you have shared with me over the years has convinced me of the organization’s value.
And that value was on glittering display at our recent CAM and Voice of Agriculture conferences in Southfield. Back-to-back at the same venue, I was able to take in both.
What I saw impressed my wool socks off: Members involved in P&E, and the administrators (CAMs) who run their county Farm Bureaus, are well-motivated groups that include some of Farm Bureau’s most dynamic and enthusiastic apostles.
CAMs have a well-defined role as the county Farm Bureau motherboard. Like any other segment of the Farm Bureau family, their roster is a mix of experienced veterans, green newbies and everything in between.
The common bond is they’re devoted to providing their members with the best possible Farm Bureau experience. Period. And their engagement at this year’s CAM conference — the rapt attention, the open, rapid-fire exchange of ideas — demonstrated that simple fact over and over and over.
(The same is true for county presidents, regional managers, and your staff in Lansing. No two of us share exactly the same rung on the experience ladder, but our shared missions and goals are just the beginning of the common ground linking us together.)
Plenty of that common ground was on display in Southfield, where I enjoyed meeting and getting to know some of the newest — and most promisingly ambitious — new young members, just beginning their Farm Bureau journey.
Hillsdale FFA student Ryder Cornett might be the youngest of them, having just joined last summer at age 18. Cooling his heels by himself near the registration table, he seemed patiently awaiting an opportunity to talk with someone.
I was in the right place at the right time, and young Ryder impressively initiated a conversation about himself, me, the conference and Farm Bureau in general. I can count on one hand folks his age who are comfortable initiating face-to-face conversation with anyone, much less a grown-up almost old enough to be his granddad.
(If you know or see Ryder, wish him a happy 19th birthday!)
Cut from a similar bolt of cloth was Eden Parker from Iosco County, who twice crossed my path during the conference. Like Ryder, she approached me with an open eagerness to engage like she already understands the fuzzy “networking” perk that comes with Farm Bureau membership.
But what really blew me away was the pro move she pulled at the closing session. I was down in front taking pictures, at an empty table except for Calhoun emeritus Pat Butler, who will be the first to admit he’s no spring chicken. Eden was sitting at the next table over.
The speaker asked audience members to chat with table neighbors in small groups, and Eden understood the assignment immediately: She stood up, came straight over and plopped down right next to Pat — 50 years her senior — introduced herself and initiated the conversation.
I was floored. I know plenty of grown-a** adults who don’t have that in them — mature, functional members of society with degrees and children and careers — who will barely interact with their own peers, much less a stranger with a half-century age differential.
So what was my take-away?
Something is going very, very right with the youngest strata of your community — our Farm Bureau family — and among your industry’s future leaders. It makes me proud to work for you all, and for the organization that, in part, has a hand in developing such bright young beacons.
Share Story
Article Tags
