2022 County Activities of Excellence Award Application

CAFB administers an awards program to recognize county Farm Bureaus for outstanding achievements on the local level. The following is a breakdown of the package of awards offered to CFBs based on the newly formatted application process.

This process provides the opportunity for maximum recognition of the significant program of work undertaken by county Farm Bureaus in California. Under this structure, every county Farm Bureau can potentially be recognized for their achievements and hard work.

Structure: This award package is similar to the structure and format used for the American Farm Bureau Federation awards program allowing for consistency, efficiency and ease of understanding as we submit applications for recognition at all levels of Farm Bureau.

Categories: Counties have been placed into classes based on agriculture membership numbers and will be judged relative to other CFBs of similar size. 

Judging: Determination of award allocations will be made by an independent panel of judges from within the Farm Bureau family.

Please direct all questions to:
Stephanie Younger
Program Director - YF&R and Leadership Farm Bureau
Member Advocacy Division
(916) 561-5590
awards@cfbf.com

Deadline: August 5

Every county Farm Bureau can submit an application for the County Activities of Excellence in each of five categories: Member Services, Policy Implementation, Leadership, Ag Education/Promotion or Public Relations. Every county can receive an Activities of Excellence Award in each category in which they submit an application and meet minimum levels of participation.

Please consider the following guidelines and recommendations as you complete your application. These items are not comprehensive and are in no way intended to limit the type of information you should include. Please simply use them as a recommendation when determining where your unique activities and events fit within the written application categories.

NOTE: ALL WRITTEN RESPONSES ARE LIMITED TO 75 WORDS FOR EACH SUB-SECTION.

Membership

• Retention: Include items such as direct outreach to current members, phone calls, letters.
• Recruitment: Include items such as a membership drive, campaign or specific outreach efforts to reach new members.
• Communication: Include your CFB website highlights, newsletters, e-news blasts or other communication methods you use to communicate with your current members.
• Member Service: Include items such as county specific benefits or discount programs, safety, media, pesticide, regulatory or other trainings offered by the CFB or specific services provided to members through their membership in your CFB.

Policy Implementation

• Fostering Relationships with Elected Officials: Include items such as legislative tours, a campaign school, and candidate forums.
• Outreach to Service and Regulatory Agencies: Include items such as work with an irrigation district, RCD, and any regulatory agency at any level of government.
• Influencing Policy: Include items such as Farm Team, Farm PAC fundraisers and any effort to support or oppose legislation, initiatives or ordinances would be included in this section.
• Outreach to Other Organizations and Associations: Include collaboration with networks, coalitions, organizations and associations such as Citrus Mutual, the Chamber of Commerce, local commodity groups, etc. 

Leadership

• Board of Directors: Include items such as orientations, board of director training, strategic planning sessions, goal setting initiatives and other efforts that directly impact the leadership skills and abilities of the board of directors.
• Member Engagement and Involvement: Include ways you directly engage your membership to become involved in the organization. Items such as special events or programs, committee work, and fundraisers that engage a volunteer base should all be addressed.
• Development: Include leadership development efforts for your broad membership. These can include county leadership initiatives or trainings, mentoring programs, etc.
• Involvement in CAFB Trainings and Opportunities: Include the efforts your CFB makes to engage in CAFB activities, conferences trainings and programs. This can include, but is not limited to Policy Recommendation Committees, Commodity Advisory Committees, Leaders Conference, Leadership Farm Bureau, etc.

Class A (1-499 members)

Alameda, Amador, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Humboldt,  Inyo-Mono, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Modoc, Monterey, Nevada, Orange, Placer, Plumas - Sierra, Riverside, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Siskiyou, Solano, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne.

Class B (500-799 members)

Glenn, Imperial, Kern, Mendocino, San Luis Obispo,  Ventura, Yolo, Yuba-Sutter.

Class C (800 + members)

Butte, Fresno, Merced, Napa, San Diego, San Joaquin, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Tulare.

**Based on FYE October 31, 2021 Agricultural Membership Numbers**