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‘Back to basics’ charge to county FB presidents

County Farm Bureau leaders (from left) Mark Schoenborn (Ottawa), Matt Munsell (Livingston) and Lisa Russcher (Allegan) face off in a game of Member-Engagement Chutes & Ladders.
Date Posted: February 16, 2023

The 2023 Council of Presidents Conference encouraged county Farm Bureau leaders to get Back to the Basics.

County presidents from across the state convened in Midland Feb. 1-2 to focus on the Farm Bureau of the future, governance, committees, member engagement, county annual meetings and our organization’s role as the Voice of Agriculture.

Speaking of the future of your county Farm Bureau, each county president received a personalized county Factbook page, providing insight on membership trends; demographics including age and financial spending; and member engagement statistics.

Challenge your local Farm Bureau board to utilize that page and strategize for the future.

Beyond planning for the future, MFB President Carl Bednarski challenged each county president to make their county annual meeting their premier event.

“We should all be asking the question: Why do we attend county annuals and how do we make them events other members want to attend as well?” Bednarski said.

Presidents from across the state shared ideas and plans that’ve worked in their counties. In addition, the County Annual Planning Guide resource has been rolled out to assist you in planning that premier event.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t highlight valuable tools given to presidents on being the spokesperson for agriculture and consumer outreach, enabling your county to tell agriculture’s story locally.

The conference concluded with these challenges:

  • How will your county build relationships with elected officials?
  • How will the county tell agriculture’s story in your community?
  • How do you provide value to your members? And how will you make your county annual a premier event?

As you are planning events, we challenge you to not only provide value to your members but plan an event you would attend.

Portrait of MFB Member Communications Specialist Jeremy Nagel.

Jeremy Nagel

Member Communications Specialist
517-323-6885 [email protected]