Happy July! Your local Farm Bureau continues to sweat it out for you; mostly related to water drawn issues but we’re excited to celebrate a few completions to the year. We’ve concluded our fantastically successful scholarship wine tasting event (thank you to all those who generously supported our fundraiser), and are thrilled to provide ample scholastic awards to our community once again. We’ve also concluded our annual safety training events and are proud to say we educated over 1,000 people in Madera County on worker safety, health, and best management practices! This was a huge undertaking for the Farm Bureau and we thank all our sponsors who greatly assisted us in making these trainings worthwhile and beneficial to the ag community.
Many of you may have noticed recent press regarding new construction activities for the high speed rail project in Madera County. It’s true…the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) has begun construction, on CalTrans property (insert smiley face here). Caltrans owns and operates many portions of easements throughout the high speed rail’s route, and due to a number of complicating condemnation factors; the CHSRA has decided to begin geo-seismic testing along the Fresno River, in a CalTrans right of way. Oh well, I guess you’ve gotta start somewhere –said the fly to the cow. There a number of right of way developments concerning the high speed train project that the Farm Bureau is following very closely which we will keep our members informed of as things progress.
The Farm Bureau is currently gearing up for a massive membership revamp and rollout –keep your ears up for changes to our current structure and benefits in the coming weeks and months. We are also excited to announce a massive overhaul in our safety training structure for 2015 –one that will be a value-added benefit to our members and be more comprehensive regarding your highest risks in agribusiness.
Our office is always cool –stop by and see us sometime!
Anja K. Raudabaugh
Executive Director
