ANAHEIM \u2014 California Farm Bureau President Shannon Douglass delivered an optimistic address at the organization\u2019s 107th Annual Meeting on\u00a0Monday, confidently proclaiming a \u201ctremendously bright future\u201d for the state\u2019s agricultural industry, despite the many challenges facing farmers and ranchers.<\/p>\n
Douglass, a diversified farmer and rancher from Glenn County, credited the organization’s advocacy efforts and its principled stands for the positive outlook.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite all the challenges we have in the world, all the challenges we have in agriculture, we still have a tremendously bright future,\u201d Douglass said. \u201cI believe that it’s because of Farm Bureau that the future of California agriculture looks bright.\u201d<\/p>\n
Workforce and policy wins<\/p>\n
The president highlighted several key accomplishments from the past year, underscoring the Farm Bureau’s policy work in Sacramento. These achievements include successful efforts to reduce utility rates for agricultural operations, impact state laws related to farmland conservation, and influence legislation focused on protecting livestock from predators like coyotes.<\/p>\n
Douglass, who was elected to lead the Farm Bureau in 2023, emphasized the impact of the organization’s collective voice, stating, \u201cI think our voices were heard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Standing up for farmworkers<\/p>\n
A significant focus of her address was the Farm Bureau’s decision to take a strong, principled stand in support of the farm workforce.<\/p>\n
In a notable moment of bipartisan advocacy this August, Douglass coauthored an opinion piece in The New York Times alongside California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas. The article called for the creation of a pathway to legal status for undocumented farmworkers.<\/p>\n
Douglass explained the reasoning behind the push, noting it was important from both a business perspective and a \u201cpeople perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe simply talked about why this issue is important… and how we value and appreciate the people that work on our farms and are involved in our communities and our families,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are going to continue fighting on the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Centuries of investment<\/p>\n
The president also acknowledged the grassroots strength of the organization, celebrating the efforts of several county Farm Bureaus\u2014including Lake, Nevada, Napa, Plumas-Sierra, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and Solano\u2014for successfully growing their membership this year.<\/p>\n
She concluded by reflecting on the organization\u2019s long history, which she believes provides a solid foundation for the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got over 100 years of history\u2014a whole century of work that\u2019s been laid out before us,\u201d Douglass said. \u201cAll that investment allows us to look ahead at a really bright future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Philanthropy initiative launched<\/p>\n
The California Farm Bureau launched \u201cGiving Back with Farm Bureau,\u201d a new philanthropic initiative, in conjunction with the California YF&R State Conference.<\/p>\n
The hands-on project united Farm Bureau members and event attendees in assembling 1,000 backpacks filled with school supplies, learning materials, and healthy snacks. The filled backpacks were donated to OC Fairgrounds: Centennial Farm for distribution to local children. The effort also doubled as a friendly competition, with attendees from different regions competing to assemble the backpacks.<\/p>\n
\u201cSupporting our communities has always been an important part of Farm Bureau\u2019s mission,\u201d said Douglass. \u201cThis effort reflects that commitment, helping ensure children have the tools they need to succeed in school.\u201d<\/p>\n
Partners of the philanthropic initiative included California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom, California Giant Berry Farms, California Grown, California Milk Advisory Board, California Walnut Board and Commission, Dairy Council of California, Farm Bureau Bank, Nationwide, OC Fairgrounds: Centennial Farm, SunSweet, and UnitedAg.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiving Back with Farm Bureau\u201d complemented the meeting\u2019s broader discussion on the importance of farming and ranching and\u00a0sought to foster agricultural education by providing resources to local children.<\/p>\n
Douglass and American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall highlighted the initiative\u2019s impact and addressed key issues affecting farmers and ranchers, including immigration reform, managing regulatory costs, and growing the future leaders of agriculture.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis (backpack donation effort) is a great example of our county Farm Bureaus giving back to their community,\u201d Duvall said. \u201cGrowing a new generation that understands agriculture is very, very important because today, people want to know more about their food than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Teaching children about where their food comes from, Duvall said, opens the door for future generations interested in 4-H and FFA and careers in agriculture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ANAHEIM \u2014 California Farm Bureau President Shannon Douglass delivered an optimistic address at the organization\u2019s 107th Annual Meeting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90397,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1955,50134,7,9,8,14013,13],"class_list":["post-90396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-agriculture","tag-american-farm-bureau-federation","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-food-industry","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}