Kenny Watkins (right) was re-elected as first vice president of the California Farm Bureau Federation at the 2011 CFBF Annual Meeting in Sparks. Also re-elected were president Paul Wenger (center) and second vice president Jamie Johansson (left).

FARM BUREAU NEWS

San Joaquin Farm Bureau was well represented at the CFBF Annual Meeting with Kenny Watkins being re-elected as first vice president, Bruce Fry chosen as an alternate delegate to the AFBF Annual Meeting in Hawaii, and San Joaquin Farm Bureau receiving President’s Awards in the policy and public relations categories.

Kenny Watkins
Watkins, former president of SJFB, served two terms as second vice president and in 2009 was elected first vice president and re-elected to a second term at the 2011 annual meeting.

“Being selected reinforces what I’ve been doing as first vice president,” he said. “The membership’s support for me is humbling.”

Watkins is chairman of the board for the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom and said of the 2011 Ag Day held in San Francisco “It was a huge event and introduced agriculture to thousands of urban kids.”

During his time serving ag and Farm Bureau members, Watkins has represented Farm Bureau on the Bay Delta Conservation Plan’s steering committee and has traveled to Mexico, Canada and Asia on various gubernatorial trade missions.

Watkins is a former president of SJFB, and has represented San Joaquin and Calaveras counties on the CFBF board of directors, has chaired the CFBF Beef Advisory Committee, and served on the AFBF Beef Advisory Committee. He’s served on the Farm Service Agency County Committee, the California Dry Bean advisory board, and the Stockton District Kidney Bean Growers board.

The biggest challenge faced by agriculture and Farm Bureau is “…the California state budget [because] the governor and Legislature want to shift the funding of state government to ag, the state’s largest business sector. Keeping the state government in line will be our biggest job.”

He said being from San Joaquin County has the potential to make him feel “too close to local issues” which has engendered a bigger awareness of the big picture, “but I’m able to bring local issues to the table more quickly.”

Watkins’ local orientation is as a farmer growing alfalfa, processing tomatoes, walnuts and grain hay and raising beef cattle near Linden where he’s active as a 4-H leader, in his local church and remains committed to SJFB, working on the building committee and as a member of the cooking crew.


Bruce Fry

SJFB President Bruce Fry was elected as an alternate delegate to the AFBF annual meeting in Honolulu in January.

“This was my first try at running to be a delegate to the AFBF annual meeting and I tied in the initial vote with another member,” Fry said. “In a run-off the membership chose the other person and I received the one year term as an alternate. And it is a thrill and an honor to be an alternate delegate.”

Five delegates and alternates were voted on and they will vote on policies and bylaw changes at the annual meeting.

Alternates are, noted Fry, “persons well versed in issues and if seated at the voting table, they can vote.”

Fry said he was able to “put my Leadership Farm Bureau skills to work on my campaign” which was, he said, an excellent and exciting learning experience.”


San Joaquin Farm Bureau wins President’s Awards

Two President’s Awards were awarded to San Joaquin Farm Bureau during ceremonies at the December Annual Meeting of the California Farm Bureau Federation.

SJFB was recognized in the largest membership group for outstanding work in the policy, and public relations categories. Other Farm Bureaus receiving President’s Awards included Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Ventura.

“As one of the bigger counties in the state we’re very proactive on issues dealing with policy and public relations,” said Fry, president of the award winning SJFB. “Our staff is doing a great job on all of our county’s diverse issues.”

“And our members are a major reason for our success, too,” he added.

“The President’s Award is presented to Farm Bureaus for their outstanding achievements,” explained Megan Alpers, CFBF media specialist. “The awards are given in five categories to Farm Bureaus eligible based on their membership numbers.”

The categories are: membership, policy, leadership, agricultural education and public relations.

Bruce Blodgett, SJFB’s executive director, said the policy award was due to SJFB’s ongoing campaign of reaching out to local, state and national officials, and agencies to reduce the “regulations that are stifling ag producers” along with a myriad of other issues important to the county’s ag sector. “Farm Bureau always represents the interests of San Joaquin County agriculture.”

Alpers said, “Their excellence in policy work is evident in the close working relationships they have with legislators.”

SJFB also partnered with neighboring counties to host an event in Stockton at the Robert J. Cabral Ag Center to raise money for FARM PAC and farm-friendly candidates. The one-night event generated more than $79,000.

The award for public relations was based on SJFB’s “maintaining ongoing communication with the local media and hosting a media appreciation night in July,” according to Alpers. “County Farm Bureau leaders and members have been an active presence on school campuses throughout the county, hosting ag days and teacher trainings.”

“We remain in contact year-round because we want to be sure the media not only gets the stories about ag, but gets them right,” Blodgett said.

A public relations event of special note occurred in October when nearly 40 SJFB volunteers journeyed to the Cow Palace in San Francisco to take part in the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom’s Farm Day event.

The volunteers brought farm and ranch demonstrations, including livestock, to three San Francisco schools, bringing the ag and farm message to more than 1,500 urban students.

Blodgett said he was “surprised” that SJFB didn’t receive an award in the agricultural education category as “we’re very active in the area of ag education. We’ve had two Ag in the Classroom events – no other county has two – and our scholarship program is excellent.” SJFB’s participation also played a significant role in the success of the San Francisco Farm Day.

Fry was sanguine about SJFB being overlooked for an ag education award, saying, “Well, you can’t win them all. I’m confident we’ll be recognized in the future. We’ll keep on doing the things we’ve been doing, and more, and we’ll get recognized for our effort.”

Part of the education/public relations effort of SJFB is an annual display at the State Fair that is issues oriented. Farm Bureau partners with San Joaquin County for the exhibit which invariably generates a great deal of discussion.

“A couple of years ago we had a display of a giant terminator representing then-Gov. Schwarzenegger’s relationship with ag,” Blodgett said. “We focus on issues-based presentations that demonstrate San Joaquin County’s ag isn’t merely getting food to tables but also what influences ag.”

It is important, Blodgett said, that voters understand agriculture has real challenges, some more serious than others, but that all are important.