Happy New Year and may 2015 be a bountiful one for all!
With the glow of the holidays fading into the sunset of last year, January has always been a good month to look forward to a long period of new prospects, possibilities, and choices. One way to make the necessary decisions needed during the next twelve months is to base them on an inventory of one’s assets and liabilities.
Membership in the Madera County Farm Bureau certainly has only one place on your inventory list—the asset column! I know of few, if any, commitments that return more value for your dollar that belonging to our area’s only comprehensive agricultural advocacy organization!
Just looking over the past month, there have been numerous meetings, both public and private, that have concentrated on groundwater changes that have the potential to impact every farmer in Madera County. Despite the focus on what MCFB Executive Director Anja Raudabough calls “the biggest issue of our time,” attendance at these gatherings by farming representatives has been minimal save for the staff and board members of MCFB. Groundwater regulation and control is but one issue that our Farm Bureau vigilantly focuses on every day to make sure that our rural way of life in Madera County is protected and preserved! There’s also poorly planned urban development, high-speed rail intrusion, suspect governmental actions, questionable endangered species rulings…the list goes on and on.
Just stop for a second and put a value on your time for the equivalent of one hour. Then multiply that value by one hundred. That conservatively is the number of hours spent by the MCFB staff and Directors in local meetings in December 2014 representing your agricultural interests in Madera County. Then you can double that result to factor in the time spent on issues of statewide and national importance that will also influence your farming operation. And this is for only one month of the year in terms of meeting attendance! Do you think that the return on investment (in this case your annual dues) is worth it? As the late, great comedian Dick Martin used to say, “You bet your sweet bippy” it is!
The Madera County Farm Bureau is the only voluntary, non-governmental, non-profit organization that is dedicated to the support and preservation of agriculture throughout Madera County. Your membership should be at the top of your asset list. Make sure your enrollment is up to date, encourage and advocate membership to your fellow farmers and citizens at large, and let’s all get ready for another year of successful farming!
See Ya,
Al Sheeter
