Fun Bureau: Caught you enjoying yourself!

A pair of recent member visits reminded me of a component of Farm Bureau membership nobody talks about enough: That it’s fun. 

I didn’t always understand this component myself, especially early in my career when I looked down my nose at some Young Farmer activities that seemed more about beer than leadership development. Eventually I came to better understand the value of purely social events, and how foundational it is to the organization for its members to just get to know each other as human beings. 

Now I’m the one telling intimidated new staffers that even our conferences — even State Annual Meeting — are, yes, a lot of work, but they’re also a lot of fun — not frat-party fun, but social fun in that it’s an opportunity to chat up and reconnect with friends we don’t see often enough. 

Recently in the Saginaw Valley, MFB Regional Manager Alexandria Schunk took me to Schomaker Farms, an embryonic little agritourism farm still growing into its own footprint just outside the city. (Attentive readers may remember Taylor Schomaker and her husband Ryan were finalists for last year’s Young Farmer Excellence Award.) 

The parents of two young boys — one feral, one sack of potatoes — the Schomakers stumbled into agriculture by accident, in the limited margins between their full-time day jobs. While building their new home, Taylor explained how a hesitant gardening trial left them with more fresh produce than they could consume. They put the excess on an open cart out by the road and watched as its contents quickly vanished.

“It was FUN!!” she exclaimed, bouncing her bundled infant, her eyes alight inside the bright of one of two greenhouses already bursting with the pots and seedlings that’ll comprise their 2025 crop of 30 different fruits and vegetables. 

Her dietician DNA guarantees visitors to Schomaker Farms take home some fresh knowledge with their produce: practical information on nutrition and meal prep and how farmers raise crops and livestock long before they reach supermarket shelves. 

The Schomakers are off to an exciting start.

My other, very different, example of infectious, rah-rah Farm Bureau energy came from Ingham County Farm Bureau President Tami Shaw — another one who oozes as much enthusiasm for the organization as she does for her slightly overwhelming collection of indoor house plants.

Like Schomaker, the energy Tami brings to the table is evident regardless of where you are in the conversation. I noticed it earlier this year at the Growing Together Conference, where she jumped up on stage in front of everyone and took to her assigned role with giddy abandon, showing off auction items like an over-caffeinated Vanna White. 

Tami’s second term presiding over the Ingham County Farm Bureau will close out in a few months. After their county annual she’ll term off the board of directors, having served the six-year maximum per Ingham’s bylaws.

“At first it was a big learning curve,” she admitted, but that seems to’ve only augmented her enjoyment. 

“I am enjoying it, and am happy I’ll be back in the swing of things” after an obligatory year off the board. “I’ve loved meeting more people, more county presidents across the state… I just understand it better — the whole organization.”

She’s quick to point out that her upcoming bump off the board of directors is only temporary and won’t dampen her drive to stay involved.

“I’m still chairing the Policy Development committee and serving on MFB’s state-level Promotion & Education committee,” she said.

“They’re not getting rid of me yet. I’ve gotta be off a year, but then I’ll be back!”

Here’s the moral of this story: 

Farm Bureau membership means different things to different people: policy, leadership development, consumer outreach, advocacy, legislative work… 

It’s a long list, and those of you working membership recruitment need a variety of elevator pitches on hand to cover all the major bases. 

But don’t forget the fun!

Remember that Farm Bureau’s diverse value proposition includes entry into an enormous social club of friendly faces — peers who’ll soon become friends who’ll soon enrich your life.

If you love farming, you’ll love your Farm Bureau family. 

And along the way, you’ll have a lot of fun doing it.