Two county Farm Bureaus from Michigan joined elite company from across the nation during the 106th American Farm Bureau Convention, held in San Antonio, Texas.
The Berrien and Saginaw County Farm Bureaus were honored by AFBF as County Activities of Excellence winners, being selected as one of just 24 counties to receive the award.
Members of the Berrien and Saginaw County Farm Bureaus staffed booths on the trade show floor at the convention, spotlighting standout activities that earned them recognition on a national stage.
Saginaw County
The program got rolling when Saginaw County Farm Bureau member Joanmarie Weiss’ husband Roger asked her to find somewhere that he could recycle some tires. When she found that there wasn’t an established program already, Joanmarie worked with her County Farm Bureau and their County Administrative Manager Kate Mammel to get one rolling.
AFBF President Zippy Duvall (left) stopped by the Saginaw County Farm Bureau’s booth on the trade show floor of the American Farm Bureau Convention, where Roger and Joanmarie Weiss talked about their county Farm Bureau’s successful tire recycling program. | Photo by AFBF
The results have been an overwhelming success, with up to 3,000 tires collected during each of Saginaw County Farm Bureau’s three recycling events, which are held after the county mails a postcard to members with details of how to take part. Forty-three farms participated in the most recent round of recycling.
“We’ve gotten new members because of it,” Weiss said, adding that about 80% of participants were previously uninvolved in Farm Bureau.
“People have tires, and they hear that Farm Bureau is taking them, they call the office and Kate tells them they have to become a member and then you can participate.”
For county Farm Bureaus interested in starting their own tire recycling program, Joanmarie said her advice is to avoid handling the tires yourself — like Saginaw County did the first time around.
“The first thing you really need to do is figure out what your budget's going to be as a county, and then find a recycler that'll take them, so you don't have to,” Joanmarie said, noting that the events yield thousands of pounds of tires each time. “Farmers will drive to get rid of tires.”
Berrien County
Berrien County Farm Bureau’s interactive “No Farmer, No Fair Food” exhibit included a straw maze with ag facts that show how farms raise the goods that become food served at the county fair.
“We're so passionate about our fruit production because we're part of the fruit belt,” said Emily Kerlikowske, who serves on Berrien County Farm Bureau’s Promotion and Education Committee.
“You can go to somebody that produces apples, peaches, pears, and then the next farm has cherries and different kinds of berries and kids don't know where they come from.”
Staffed by Farm Bureau volunteers, nearly 3,000 kids took part in the maze and activities, checking out replicas of fair food while completing a punch card that earned them a bright red Farm Bureau-branded wristband — which proved to be a cost-effective and much-sought-after prize for participants.
“It's just like all the farmers here at the Farm Bureau convention, if you have a hat on your table, people are more likely to come up and interact with you, it’s that reward aspect,” Kerlikowske noted.
“It doesn't have to be a corn maze or a straw bale maze. It can just be something where they get the reward through the process of education and promotion.”