Women's Leadership Committee |
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The mission of the Arizona Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee is to surface and develop women as leaders through involvement in a variety of programs. These programs are directed toward leadership development, political influence, Ag education and promotion. Women play a significant role in agriculture and in Farm Bureau. The number of women serving as principal operators of farms and ranches has increased 11.2 percent nationwide. As women take a more active role in production, they also find the importance of becoming more involved in organizations that represent farmers and ranchers. Telling the story of agriculture in a factual and engaging manner is an ongoing effort of the Arizona Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee To contact the Arizona Women's Leadership Committee chair, call Ann Palmer at (520) 824-3646 or palmer@vtc.net. For more information, call Peggy Jo Goodfellow, the Arizona Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee coordinator at (480) 635-3609 or peggyjogoodfellow@azfb.org.
Purpose: To enthusiastically promote the involvement and leadership of women in fulfilling the mission of Farm Bureau. Legislative Ag Fest was held January 23 at the State Capitol. The goal is to reach as many state legislators as possible and show them how diverse agriculture is in Arizona and help them see we need their support. This year Farm Bureau members hosted 43 lefislatoars. The Women’s Leadership Committee helped staff organize this event. For more information, contact Paul Brierley at (480) 635-3612 or paulbrierley@azfb.org. Food Check-Out Week was February 3- 9, 2008. We call it Food Check-Out Week because it takes only 37 days for the average American to earn enough disposable income to pay for their family’s food supply for the entire year, as opposed to 116 days to pay all their taxes. For more information, contact Peggy Jo Goodfellow at (480) 635-3609 or peggyjogoodfellow@azfb.org. Ag in the Classroom is a program to help school children and teachers learn about agriculture and how their food, fiber and ornamental crops are produced. The focus for Women's Leadership Committee (WLC) is to get into as many classes as possible. The purpose will be to teach them something about agriculture and help the teacher learn how to use agriculture in teaching reading, writing and math using farm facts, weights and measures and observations.
The Book Barn Ag Lending Library The two lending libraries are housed in a barn box and each contains 21 books. These libraries are available to teachers throughout Maricopa County FREE of charge and on a 2-week basis. Teachers are required to pick up the learning library and return it to the Arizona Farm Bureau office in Gilbert. Each library will contain master copies of worksheets and literacy type activities for the teachers tocopy and do with their students. For more information, contact Katie Schmidbauer-Aikins at (480) 635-3608 or email to katieschmidbauer@azfb.org. Summer Ag Institute (SAI) is held in June each year. Farm Bureau fully supports the efforts of the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Maricopa County and the Arizona Foundation for Agricultural Literacy in this event. Farm Bureau members host the teachers one night during the week-long institute in a hands-on farm experience. Summer Ag Institute (SAI) is activity based and encourages teachers to participate in a variety of agricultural activities so they can incorporate what they learn into their classroom curriculum. This five-day program is designed to teach K-12 grade teachers about food and fiber production. Imagine earning 48 hours of CEU's or 3 University credits and receive free classroom materials to help educate students about agriculture. Tuition is only $85 and includes room and board. The deadline is May 1 each year. Teachers that want to participate, please call Gerry Parker (602) 470-8086 x 389 or gparker@ag.arizona.edu. The Women in Agriculture Conference addresses the issues women face on and off the farm. The next conference will be held July 11, 2008 in Prescott. Partially sponsored by the Women's Leadership Committee annual partner Hickman's Family Farms, the conference theme is "Our Farm to Your Table." All of us involved in agriculture need to reach out to consumers and tell the true story of agriculture in a positive way, to create new advocates for agricutlure. "Discovering your Influential Power" is the title of this year's keynote presentation by Troy and Stacy Hadrick, a Young Farmer and Rancher couple from Vale, South Dakota. The keynote and afternoon breakout sessions will give attendees the confidence and motivation to get out there and start telling their own positive story. Accomodations are available now at the Prescott Quality Inn & Suites, 4499 Highway 69, in Prescott. Rates are $109 per night, single or double occupancy. To guarantee this special rate, call the hotel directly at 928-777-0770 . June 19 is the deadline for conference registration and the reduced-rate hotel rooms. The registration fee is $40. Click here for an agenda and registration form. For more information, call Peggy Jo Goodfellow at (480) 635-3609 or peggyjogoodfellow@azfb.org. The Committee holds an Ag Promotion and Leadership Auction each year during the Arizona Farm Bureau annual meeting. As their largest fund raising event, the Auction generates fun and some good-natured competition. Past auction items include: fountains, quilts, leather goods, clocks, candles and most importantly the ever-popular toy tractor. |
