Champions of Excellence Awards recognize county Farm Bureaus for outstanding efforts to implement member-developed policy, advocate organizational positions, inform consumers and promote Michigan agriculture.
A who’s-who roster of Michigan’s county Farm Bureaus have earned 2025 Champions of Excellence Awards. Designed to acknowledge county Farm Bureaus’ efforts in advocating for agriculture and engaging members, MFB’s annual Champions of Excellence recognition is awarded annually in two categories, Involvement and Grassroots.
Involvement-category winners were recognized in the first article in this series. Here’s the fourth batch of winners in the grassroots category:
Shiawassee Farm-City Dinner
Shiawassee County Farm Bureau’s annual Farm-City Dinner is a real-life enactment of its own mission statement: to promote agriculture through information, education and involvement. After an extended hiatus post-Covid, the event was resurrected in April of this year, partnering with other local organizations to help bridge the gaps separating townies from the countryside.
With a history going back almost 40 years, the event aims to bring farm and city residents together for fellowship, some light ag education, and to benefit a scholarship fund for local students pursuing agriculture or skilled trades.
Partnering with the Shiawassee Chamber of Commerce, MSU Extension, and two local Kiwanis Clubs, the county Farm Bureau coordinates planning, from the venue, meal and promotion to lining up an ag-related topic and a guest speaker to address it.
A steering committee convened quarterly to design and distribute promotional materials, consider speaker options and distribute scholarship applications to local high schools. The same committee, composed of representatives from each of the partnering groups, reviewed scholarship applications, chose a winner and presented the award at the event.
Other partners, including Baker College, American Speedy Print and Greenstone Farm Credit Services, sponsored the facility and printing promotional flyers and programs. Invitations went to all regular and new members of the county Farm Bureau; more were distributed through local Farm Bureau Insurance agent offices.
This year Owosso Bee Club President Gale Moore spoke with an audience of approximately 75 attendees from all walks of life across the greater Shiawassee County area.
Among those attendees was a group of new Farm Bureau members who joined board members in greeting guests and harvesting feedback about how to maintain community interest in the industry comprising such a dominant portion of the local economy.
The network of diverse partnerships underpinning the event forge lasting relationships linking the local farm community with business partners, local governments and educational institutions. Along the way, the profile and mission of Shiawassee County Farm Bureau — and its 990 farmer members — were underscored, fostering better understanding among the non-farm community about the reach and impact of local agriculture.
Proceeds from tickets sold, silent auction items and donations totaled more than $1,300, all of which went toward helping a local student attending Michigan State University.
Hiawathaland’s First Day of Summer Bash
Hiawathaland Farm Bureau leveraged its assets — a local radio station owner on its board of directors — to flex a high-profile membership promotion that shared the good word about agriculture with a wide audience. The First Day of Summer Bash combined consumer outreach with membership promotion and raising awareness about agriculture in the central Upper Peninsula.
Hoping to sign 10 new prospects during the membership year — an ambitious goal in the U.P. — Hiawathaland went to where those people live, both in person and over the airwaves. Hosted at a popular local restaurant, a live radio remote broadcast put a spotlight on the organization supporting farmer members across Hiawathaland’s sprawling geography.
Prior to the live broadcast, almost 150 promotional spots ran on four regional radio stations, reaching out to residents of Alger, Delta and eastern Marquette counties.
Special guests joining from the state Farm Bureau included MFB Livestock Specialist Pierce Bennett and Membership Manager Laura Lunceford, both interviewed live on the air between segments of country music and informative agricultural content.
Parallel goals of both signing new members and informing the non-farm community about local agriculture were both met: Five new regular members joined the organization and thousands of listeners across the region were reached by the promotional component.
Many were excited to learn Farm Bureau is responsible for the popular Miracle of Life exhibit at the U.P. State Fair, and that the organization is as much about supporting farmers as it is selling insurance.
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