MARLBOROUGH, Mass. — Staff, leadership and volunteers at the Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF) have once again demonstrated their excellence as the organization made a clean sweep of the American Farm Bureau Federation’s State Awards of Excellence. These annual awards are meant to recognize state Farm Bureaus that have gone above in beyond in their implementation and completion of projects in four program areas.

“The strength of Farm Bureau comes from our staff, leadership and membership base and these awards help to demonstrate that,” said MFBF President Mark Amato, who manages Verrill Farm in Concord. “For several years, we have made a clean sweep of these awards and I am proud to see this continue. I’m already looking forward to a productive 2019, in which many of these programs will be continued and new projects will be undertaken to further our organization’s goals and mission.”

The programs areas include advocacy; membership value; leadership and business development; and engagement and outreach. To apply a state Farm Bureau must submit a written application that explains the programs in each of these areas that the organization implemented and completed during the past year. Measurement of results are also submitted and taken into consideration.

Below are examples of projects that MFBF submitted for consideration under each program area.

Advocacy

• This year’s application reviewed MFBF’s successes this legislative session with a special focus on the creation of an estate tax value for farms and reforms made to the Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) program.
• This submission also included events, such as Agriculture Day at the Statehouse and Livestock On The Common, and an overview of the success MFBF has seen using an electronic platform to request written testimony from members to be sent to Massachusetts legislature.

Membership Value

• Under this category, the submission focused on new promotional products that were developed for recruitment of allied business members, introductory regular members and more.
• It also focused on the use of electronic mediums, such as the organization’s website, Facebook and Twitter, to recruit new members, as well as other strategies developed by MFBF’s membership committee.

Leadership and Business Development

• This application focused on educational courses and events, many of which focused on developing leadership abilities in farmer members as well as assisted them with new business management strategies.

Engagement and Outreach

• Much of this application discussed projects undertaken by the state’s Promotion and Education committee including a farmer’s market activity booklet and membership webinars.
• It also discussed the organization hosting a meeting overview of American Farm Bureau Federation’s work on federal policy for MFBF members.
• Finally, it also discussed legislative events including Agriculture Day at the Statehouse, Livestock on the Common and educational events, such as County Farm Bureau sponsored tractor rides.

These awards will be presented in January during American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual meeting, which is set to be held in New Orleans. A member of MFBF’s delegation to the conference will accept the awards.

–Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation

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