2012 Program Book 66th Annual
Arkansas Farm Family of the Year
2011 Farm Family of the Year Heath & Betsy Long
Program materials are available on the following web sites: www.arfb.com www.arkpress.org www.ar.nrcs.usda.gov
2012 Farm Family of the Year Program Proud Participant in the Swisher Sweets / Sunbelt Ag Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year Award The state committee and sponsors would like to thank the countless individuals in the counties that make the Arkansas Farm Family of the Year Program a success. Sponsored by
Arkansas Farm Bureau, Arkansas Press Association, Farm Credit Services of Western Arkansas, AgHeritage Farm Credit Services, Farm Credit Midsouth Associations, and Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas With the cooperation of the Arkansas Department of Workforce Education University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service USDA, Farm Service Agency USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service USDA, Rural Development
Checklist of Committee Procedures Select Your County Farm Family. Should be completed by the middle of April. Get Acceptance from Family. The committee chairman should visit the selected family and gain acceptance of the honor of representing the county. Take Report Booklet to Family and Complete. The committee chairman should take a copy of the report booklet to the family. Review the booklet with the family and help them complete it. Report booklets should be submitted to the state coordinator by the May 11 deadline. Coordinate Media Day with Judges’ Visit. The public relations/media coordinator should arrange for local media outlets to visit the farm family when the judges arrive. Interviews and photos should be done at this time. Visit Farm During Judging and Media Day. The committee should try to be at the farm on the day of the judges’ visit and media interviews. The dates for this is June 13-16. Take Farm Photos. On the day of the judges’ visit and media day, try to take all needed photos of the family and the farm. All photos should be submitted to the state coordinator by the July 31 deadline. Report booklets may be submitted by email to andrew.guffey@arfb.com or in hard copy to Andy Guffey, Farm Family of the Year Coordinator, Arkansas Farm Bureau, P.O. Box 31, Little Rock, AR 72203. Digital photos may be submitted by email to andrew.guffey@arfb.com or by disc to Andy Guffey, Farm Family of the Year Coordinator, Arkansas Farm Bureau, P.O. Box 31, Little Rock, AR 72203. All images should be labeled with the county name.
Farm Family Awards County Awards It is customary for the local organizations involved with the program to present a plaque to the county Farm Family of the Year. In some counties more than one plaque is presented at various functions by different organizations. In an effort to make the plaques uniform across the state, plaques should be ordered from the Arkansas Farm Bureau office in Little Rock using the form in the back of the guidelines book. The county committee should arrange to have the plaque presented to the family at some appropriate gathering. This may be done at a civic club, chamber of commerce, or farm organization meeting, preferably a special meeting such as the annual banquet. The county should feel free to add any special touches they wish, such as flowers for the wife, etc.
District Awards All Arkansas counties are grouped into eight geographical districts for the purpose of selecting eight district Farm Families of the Year. Three-person teams of specialists will visit the county farm families over a threeday period. They will tour each farm home, the farm itself, and whatever else the family wants to show them. This is a friendly, informal affair that everyone should enjoy. District farm families will be selected using the same criteria as those to select the county farm families. The district farm families will be announced shortly after they have been selected. They will be recognized at the Farm Family Day luncheon in December in Little Rock. A district plaque will be provided to each district farm family by the state committee. The county committees may also want to recognize district farm families with another press release and local function.
State Awards In late July a three-person state visiting team will visit all eight district farm families. Using the same criteria as for county and district families, they will select a state Farm Family of the Year. That family will be announced at the conclusion of the Farm Family Day luncheon in December. The family will receive a specially engraved plaque.
Swisher Sweets / Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year Program Arkansas has become the tenth state to join the Southeastern Farmer of the Year Program sponsored by Swisher International and the Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition. This is a prestigious regional awards program honoring some of the best farmers in the Southeastern United States. The state winner from Arkansas will be nominated as the Arkansas entry in the Southeastern Farmer of the Year program. This nomination includes prizes from the program sponsors and a trip to the Sunbelt Ag Expo in Moultrie, Georgia.
2012 Farm Family of the Year Program Welcome to the 65th annual Arkansas Farm Family of the Year Program. Thank you for being involved in the longest running program of its kind in the country. It is only through the efforts of hundreds of people like you that this program becomes stronger and better every year. Since 1947, the Arkansas Farm Family of the Year Program has served as a vehicle to recognize outstanding farm families throughout the state. The objectives of the Farm Family of the Year Program are: To give recognition and encouragement to farm families who are doing an outstanding job on their farm and in their community. To gain recognition of the importance of agriculture in the community and state. To disseminate information on improved farm practices and management. The primary emphasis for this program should be directed toward recognizing the county farm families and the importance of agriculture in the county. The selection of district families and a state family is incidental to the county recognition.
Important Dates in 2012 May 11 June 11-14 July 9-12 July 31 THURSDAY, December 6
Deadline for report booklets to be returned to State Coordinator Visiting County Farm Families Visiting District Farm Families Deadline for county photos to be returned to State Coordinator Arkansas Farm Family Day at Wyndham Riverfront
Please submit all report booklets and photos to: Andy Guffey Farm Family of the Year Program Coordinator Arkansas Farm Bureau P.O. Box 31 Little Rock, AR 72203 andrew.guffey@arfb.com, 501-228-1219
Guidelines for Selecting County Farm Families Each county has an opportunity to select a County Farm Family of the Year. A county selection committee consists of 6 to 15 members comprised of agricultural agency personnel, farmers, newspaper editors and business leaders interested in agriculture. The county committee should have a chairman, secretary, and public relations/media coordinator. Other members of the committee should be used to facilitate the process of selection and help with recognition of the county farm family and publicity events. In past years, one person has had to handle all of the responsibilities in some counties. For the long-term health of the Farm Family of the Year program, it is important that duties be divided and shared among the committee members, and the officer positions be rotated at least every two years.
2012 Farm Family of the Year Plaque Order Form It is customary for the county committee to honor the farm family of the year with a plaque. In an effort to make the Arkansas Farm Family of the Year Program more uniform across the counties, the Arkansas Farm Bureau has acquired plaques in the shape of Arkansas that are approximately 10� x 13�. The plaques are available for $25.00. The plaques may be ordered in any quantity needed. If more than one organization desires to honor the farm family of the year with a plaque, please fill out a separate order form for each organization. Please allow 10 business days for processing and shipping. Please make all checks payable to the Arkansas Farm Bureau, and mail the check and order form to Andy Guffey, Arkansas Farm Bureau, P.O. Box 31, Little Rock, AR 72203. County Name _____________________________________________________ Family Name (Please Print) _________________________________________ Presenting Organization (Please Print) _______________________________ Date Plaque Required: ______________________________________________ Mail Plaque to: Name: ____________________________________________________________ Street Address: _____________________________________________________ City and Zip: ______________________________________________________
1. Inform all county/local newspapers and other media outlets once the selection is made and the family has consented. Use the press release format provided with the guidebook. 2. Schedule interviews and photo session the same day of the judges’ official visit. 3. Keep newspapers and media outlets informed when plaques will be presented. 4. Remind newspapers about the farm family banner available from the Arkansas Press Association (1800-569-8762). This is a good time to remind them of the special advertising section many newspapers use when promoting the Farm Family of the Year. Photographing the Farm Family In order to obtain photos of equal quality of all the farm families, we are utilizing the Arkansas Press Association member newspaper to take photos of the families. It is important that you schedule a media day and contact all county newspapers to attend. The APA will be contacting their newspapers about taking and forwarding photos.
Criteria for Selecting Farm Families Any farm family in Arkansas is eligible to be named an Arkansas Farm Family. The family may be an owner or a tenant, and may have income from sources other than agriculture. The county committee may also consider families in partnership or corporate operations. In those cases, all families in the partnership or corporation may be included in the honor. Emphasis should be placed upon efficiency of production, conservation of energy and resources, leadership in agricultural and community affairs, home and farm improvement, and home and farm management. The county committee should nominate as many families as it desires. Each nominee’s activities should be thoroughly discussed before selecting a farm family. Once the committee has finished its discussions, the committee should vote and select one family to be named the Farm Family of the Year for that county. The committee should keep the top three nominees until the first selection had accepted the honor. There have been instances in the past when a family has declined to be recognized as the farm family of the year. Once the family has been selected, the committee chairman should visit with the selected family to get acceptance of their selection as Farm Family of the Year for the county. After the family accepts, then plans should be put in place to complete the rest of the program. All members of the committee should plan to be a part of the media day and judges’ visit to the farm family.
Publicizing the County Farm Family of the Year Local recognition and publicity of the county farm family is vital to the overall success of the program. Peer recognition through publicity is a major part of the honor of being the county Farm Family of the Year. The following guidelines should help make the process easier for all involved. Complete the Record Booklet A completed record booklet will help the committee provide necessary information to media outlets when publicizing the county Farm Family of the Year. The committee chairman should visit with the selected farm family and help them complete the record booklet. This will help expedite the process of returning the booklet to the state program coordinator and preparing for the visiting judges and media day. A good map and directions to the family farm should be included with the report booklet detailing the exact location of the county farm family home. Be sure to make copies of the completed report booklet to be used in coordinating media events. Use the sample press release in this guidebook to compose a press release for your county Farm Family of the Year. Arrange Media Publicity The public relations/media coordinator should coordinate all publicity activities. All publicity should be arranged in conjunction with the official judges’ visit to the county farm family home. Having a media day when the judges visit the farm will allow the family to prepare for all visitors at one time. Remember, these families are actively involved in farming. It is important that we try not to interrupt their business schedule more than is necessary. At the beginning of each program year, the county committees will be notified of the dates of the judges’ visits to their counties. The county committee will be notified of the exact time of the judges’ visit as soon as possible.
The Southeastern Farmer of the Year Award has recognized an outstanding farmer in the Southeast region since 1990. Sponsored by Swisher International and the Sunbelt Ag Expo, the program honors a state winner in Southeastern states and an overall winner. Generous awards are provided by each of the program sponsors that include Swisher International, Williamson Dickie Company, Massey Ferguson North America, Misty Morn Safe Company, and Southern States Cooperative. In 2007 Arkansas becomes the tenth state to join the Southeastern Farmer of the Year Award program. The Arkansas Farm Family of the Year state committee and program sponsors would like to thank the Swisher Sweets / Sunbelt Ag Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year Award for their sponsorship of the Farm Family Day banquet in December.
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