I’m pleased to announce for the first time in Madera County Farm Bureau’s history (at least as far back as any director can remember), our Farm Bureau Board participated in a retreat. Director Chris Wylie hosted the board at his family’s cabin in Shaver Lake. The retreat was organized and moderated by Amy Wolfe, President and CEO of AgSafe. In the weeks leading up to the retreat, Amy assigned homework to each director. The assignment was to answer a series of questions about the Madera County Farm Bureau Organization. These questions weren’t YES, NO or multiple choice, rather, they were thought-provoking, and required critical thinking and mind-power to answer appropriately. Very few questions could be answered with one or two words while others required a paragraph. Amy then compiled and organized our answers for review and discussion at the retreat.
Our focus at the retreat was to perform a SWOT analysis, which stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. As a result of this analysis, we learned and believe our organization is strong in many areas. But also learned we have several opportunities for improvement, including the services we offer members, the communication platforms we use to promote agriculture and opportunities to strengthen industry affiliate partnerships as we continue to fight for farmers and ranchers and their passion to farm. As difficult as it was talking about our organization’s weaknesses, the conversation painted a colorful picture of where we have been as an organization, where we are at this moment in time and where we want to be in the near future. I’m proud to have had this opportunity of diving into Madera County Farm Bureau like never-before and even more so to have done it with so many of my fellow directors. The Madera County Farm Bureau is led by farmers and ranchers who are rooted in Madera County and don’t plan on leaving anytime soon.
