Kalamazoo - Michigan Farm Bureau

Kalamazoo
county newsletter
County 38
A Kalamazoo County Farm Bureau Publication
County Annual
is Final Step
Toward
State Annual
Meeting
The Kalamazoo County Farm
Bureau hosted its annual meeting
Tuesday, Oct. 13 at Pine West
in Oshtemo to discuss policy
recommendations, present awards
and honors and select new board
members.
A local delegation will represent
Kalamazoo County at the 96th
annual Michigan Farm Bureau
Annual Meeting, Dec. 1-3, at the
Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and
DeVos Place Convention Center in
Grand Rapids.
Farm Bureau membership discusses
and adopts organizational policies for
the upcoming year.
The state convention features guest
speakers, recognition of winners
across several award categories, the
MFB President’s annual address,
special activities and elections to the
statewide board of directors.
FRB Teaches Communities to be
Self-Sustaining Food Producers
Foods Resource Bank
The Foods Resource Bank (FRB) has two
inter-related focus areas that, together, work
toward ending hunger globally.
In the U.S., we facilitate community
agricultural growing projects to raise funds
to implement small-holder agricultural foodsecurity programs overseas. Yet, overseas, FRB
does not ship grain or food, which may be
needed in emergencies, and, long-term, can
lead to dependency.
Instead, we work with village leadership to
determine what communities need in order
to become self­
sustaining and lift themselves
out of poverty within three to six years. FRB
helps families to produce their own food, with
extra to sell in local and regional markets,
earn income, and get their boys and girls into
schools.
And we support them throughout the
process.
U.S. growing projects
Our volunteer community growing
projects are organized around corn, soybeans,
wheat, dairy/milk, cattle feeding, commercial
vegetables or fruit. Any marketable commodity
will work.
Most start with the annual use of land that
is either donated or rented; then farmers farm
it, donating use of their equipment, time
and expertise; agricultural businesses provide
seed or other inputs (insecticide, herbicides,
fertilizers). FRB matches rural congregations
and communities with suburban churches to
ask non-farm or “city” people to cover the costs
not donated and be involved in many
other ways.
The project sells the crop on the local U.S.
market and sends the proceeds to FRB to use
overseas.
The local group can decide which FRB
program(s) to fund and receive photos and
stories from that program. Then all join in a
harvest celebration for lunch, combine rides,
a petting zoo and more. Ultimately, planning
occurs to help kick off the following year’s
project.
Overseas food-security programs
KALAMAZOO COUNTY
FARM BUREAU
October 15, 2015
Let’s start with the reason we do this: to
reduce world hunger, sustainably.
Seventy percent of the world’s population
lives in rural areas, and 80 percent of those
people are farmers who must feed their families
while cultivating two acres or less of land.
Many of these farmers are women and
children who must produce the food while the
men often migrate to find work to earn income.
Our focus is on food availability, access, and
utilization. Most of our programs start with 3-6
months of community organizing and training,
helping program participants decide what is
important, what assets they have and what else
they need to get ahead.
Then, many programs will focus on clean
water sources, soil improvement through
composting and conservation agriculture,
improved seeds and tools, small animals for
protein (rabbits, goats or chickens), vegetable
gardens, crop storage and marketing, nutrition,
sanitation and gender equity.
FRB commits to three to six years with a
community to ensure those improvements are
sustainable.
FRB’s holistic model works. After 15 years
in operation, it has supported more than 1
million people directly and untold neighbors
and family members indirectly> it has grown
into lasting solutions to hunger.
Help FRB reach the next 1 million in half
that time.
Please join us. In reaching out to the world’s
people in need, you too will be fed.
For more information about FRB, call (888)
276-4FRB or visit www.foodsresourcebank.
org.
2
October 15, 2015
Mystery barn
Hmmm … looks familiar: You recognize this structure? Be the first person to call the Kalamazoo
County Farm Bureau at (269) 342-0212 and correctly identify the mystery barn, and win a prize!
Insurance matters:
Kalamazoo County has eight Farm Bureau Insurance
agents located in five offices across the county.
Call an agent today for a comparison.
If you already have a Farm Bureau Insurance agent,
take time to sit down with them to review your coverages.
Make sure you’re fully covered!
ARE YOU AN AGVOCATE? These events are for you.
3
October 15, 2015
Connect for the Future Forum Plants Seeds of Growth
By Nicole Sevrey
After nearly a century of striving to ensure
that Michigan’s farmers thrive, Michigan Farm
Bureau members are setting their sights on the
next 100 years.
In 2019, MFB’s 46,000 members and
65 county Farm Bureaus will celebrate the
organization’s centennial anniversary.
Through economic upswings and downturns,
social progression and innumerable changes to
farming and business practices, Farm Bureau
members and their organization continue to
evolve—much like their farms—in order to
remain relevant.
As a reflection of that forward-thinking
approach, more than 120 MFB members
recently spent a weekend away from home
at the Connect for the Future Forum at
Crystal Mountain Resort in Thompsonville to
collaborate on ideas that are designed to help
members thrive for the next 100 years.
The forum’s goals were to develop and polish
leadership skills and create tools and resources
for the future.
Ambitious? Sure.
Achievable? Absolutely.
Contagious? We hope so.
Grassroots = relationships
The Michigan Farm Bureau mission is to,
“represent, protect, and enhance the business,
economic, social and educational interests of our
members.” Yet, there are a couple of important,
but unspoken, words in that statement,
according to MFB President Carl Bednarski.
Those are: grassroots leadership.
“We pride ourselves in being memberdriven,” Bednarski said. “Underneath it all, it’s
the relationships you have with one another
that make it work. Whether it’s advocating for
Farm Bureau policy, educating children and
consumers about food production, or helping
one another be more successful, you’re doing it
together.”
Bednarski led off the forward-focused
conference by looking back
briefly.
“We have outlasted other
organizations because of our
grassroots (approach),” he
said, before challenging the
group. “Help us continue to
build a strong organization
that allows us to continue to
do what we do best—feed a
growing world.”
Leading together
Leadership
strategist
Cynthia D’Amour showed
participants how to find
fellow members’ so-called
“hot buttons” during a special presentation at
the conference.
“People want to be involved in something
that is exciting, where they actually do stuff that
is bigger than themselves,” D’Amour said.
She targeted three hot-button issues why
someone engages in an organization like Farm
Bureau:
• They want to learn something (personal
or professional development);
• They want to help somehow (making a
difference, educating or mentoring);
• They want to meet people (similar or
different than themselves).
Applying that knowledge, conference
participants spent the afternoon engaging in
impromptu conversations that helped them
identify each other’s hot buttons. D’Amour then
showed participants how to weave those concepts
into planning what she calls “irresistible events.”
To practice, the group used five familiar
topics to help brainstorm ideas that potentially
could be implemented by county Farm Bureaus.
Topics included:
• General public awareness;
• Animal welfare;
• Technology;
• Succession planning;
• Restrictive regulations.
Another broad topic of conversation included
bridging generations among Farm Bureau
members.
“It’s not always easy to understand—let
alone embrace—a different generation’s
values or interests,” said Deb Schmucker,
MFB’s Center for Education, Leadership and
Development director. “But it’s essential so we
can communicate with one another and develop
future leaders in the organization.”
Spreading the word
It’s all about that grassroots approach.
“Farm Bureau members were the genesis
for the Connect for the Future Forum,” said
Kelly Turner, MFB’s membership manager and
coordinator. “Our leaders asked for this type
of information because they want to see the
organization grow and be inclusive of new and
different members. It’s an exciting time.”
Look for the colorful Connect for the Future
Forum illustration at county Farm Bureau
offices and statewide events or obtain a printed
copy for yourself and consider how you will be a
part of Farm Bureau’s next 100 years.
If you’re interested in learning more, contact
Kelly Turner at (517) 679-5442.
Save the Date: Farm Succession & Estate Planning Feb. 11
By Amanda Beard
A statewide Farm Succession and Estate
Planning Conference hosted by Michigan
Farm Bureau has been scheduled for Feb.
11 at the Lansing Convention Center. It
follows on the heels of the Lansing Legislative
Seminar one day earlier.
The event is designed to help farmers
throughout Michigan navigate the transition
of a family farm business from one generation
to the next.
The all-day conference will feature
breakout sessions on topics including the
ABC’s of estate planning, succession planning
for the farm, farm business entity structures,
financing your estate plan, tax and accounting
issues in succession planning and more.
Last winter, district-wide seminars
attracted almost 300 Farm Bureau members.
The high demand for information about farm
succession and estate planning prompted a
statewide conference that tackles more issues
in greater detail.
A Farm Journal survey found 80 percent of
surveyed farmers plan to transfer control of
their operations to the next generation, but
only 20 percent of them were confident their
succession plans would achieve that goal.
The Small Business Administration
reports less than 33 percent of family-owned
businesses survive the transition from the first
to the second generation and just half of those
survive the transition from the second to the
third generation. It means only about 16.5
percent of family-owned businesses reach the
third generation.
Registration is required and will be
available online. Full details of the event and
registration will be announced at a late date.
Contact Amanda Beard in the MFB Legal
Department at abeard@michfb.com or call
(517) 679-5349 for more information.
4
Social Media Users:
‘Swap, Meet’ on Our
New Directory
By Jill Corrin
You’re invited to a swap meet! First,
tell us how to find you on social media.
We’ll use the information to build an
online directory so members can swap
social media info and meet peers who
use social media for farm marketing
and to advocate what’s good and
wholesome about modern agriculture.
The directory is expected to launch in
February 2016 in conjunction with the
MFB Growing Together Conference,
which brings together the annual
Voice of Agriculture and Young Farmer
Leaders conferences.
To voluntarily add your agriculturerelated blog, Facebook page, Twitter
profile, YouTube channel, etc.—at no
cost, complete the online social media
swap meet submission form.
Hashtags for this project are:
#MFBSocialMediaSwapMeet and/or
#SwapandMeetMFB.
For questions, email Jill Corrin or call
517-679-5436.
Directory
PRESIDENT: Kelly Leach
VICE PRESIDENT: Todd Weinberg
THIRD MEMBER: Karl Guenther
BOARD MEMBERS: Gary Barton,
Kathleen Buckham, Steven Gazdag,
James Kreitner, Cliff Lipscomb, Lisa Robb,
Eileen Rutten, Anders Swenson
P&E CHAIRS: Violet Poling and Eileen
Rutten
YOUNG FARMER CHAIR: Clay Rhoades
COUNTY ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER:
Lisa Robb, lrobb@ctyfb.com
NEWSLETTER EDITOR:
Steven Gazdag, bgazdag@sbcglobal.net
Office
5950 Portage Road • Suite A
Portage, MI 49002-1776
(269) 342-0212
Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. M-F
kalamazoo.michfb.com
Kalamazoo County FB holds Annual
Policy Development Meeting
The Kalamazoo County annual policy
development meeting was held at the Schoolcraft
United Methodist Church on Sept. 14. This
is where your county Farm Bureau’s year really
starts, with policy adoption, plus one fine meal!
The county Farm Bureau’s policy development
committee, chaired by Kelly Leach, recommended
policies dealing with issues including a possible
bylaw change, road issues and zoning issues–right
to farm. The entire package of policy resolutions
were presented to the membership at the
Kalamazoo County annual meeting Oct. 13.
From there, the state and national issues will be
forwarded to Michigan Farm Bureau’s state-level
policy development committee.
Members donated canned goods to Farm
Bureau for its “Harvest for All” program.
For more information on Farm Bureau or to
get involved with planning next year’s meeting,
please call Lisa Robb at 269-342-0212.
NRCS/MAEAP Field Day Event is a Huge Success!
The
Kalamazoo
Conservation
District hosted its annual on-farm
educational field day with the support
of Michigan Farm Bureau on Aug. 18 at
the Weinberg Farm in Scotts.
In partnership with the USDANatural Resources Conservation Service
and Kalamazoo County Farm Bureau,
the Conservation District put on an
event to help educate growers about
the importance of soil health and bestmanagement practices. Those practices include
reducing topsoil loss by erosion, capturing
nutrients that have the potential to leach through
soil into groundwater and protecting surface
water through the installation of filter strips and
field borders.
With assistance from both Johansen Farm
and Colleen Forestieri, from the Van Buren
Conservation District, attendees were able to see
firsthand an innovative method of inter-seeding
cover crop species into established seed corn
fields. It is accomplished with the use of Johansen
Farm’s Hagie Cover Crop Inter-seeder.
The planting helped to demonstrate
progress the Weinbergs have worked
hard to achieve throughout the
growing
season—experimenting
with various cover crop seed mixes
and planting methods for future
implementation.
In the next four years, producers
located in the St. Joseph River
Watershed will have the opportunity
to receive special cost-share funding
through a special initiative known as
a Regional Conservation Partnership
Program (RCPP) with USDA-NRCS.
Producers interested in developing
Conservation Plans with local USDANRCS staff should inquire about the
conservation planning process, as
well as further information about
the RCPP, by contacting district
conservationist Jean Gagliardo at the
Portage USDA Service Center.
Additional support and sponsorship
for the field day came from local
Crystal Flash Energy and Chemical
Bank representatives.
The Kalamazoo Conservation
District works to develop new
educational
programming
and
improved services our local district
offers annually. In April, the
Kalamazoo Conservation District
published an updated plat book for the county.
For $35, this new book—last updated in 2007—
contains full-color aerial photos and plat maps of
each township, city and village, current trailway
maps and locations of county, state and city parks.
Whether you are looking for hunting land, a
trail to ride your bike on, or a map to add to your
collection, this updated book is a great resource for
anyone. For more information on the Kalamazoo
Conservation District and the services it provides
or how you can help support its mission, please
visit www.kalamazooconservation.org. Or call
269-382-5121, extension 150.
A Kalamazoo County Farm Bureau Publication