Polk County Farm Bureau Takes Home Prestigious Apex Award
by RYAN MILEJCZAK
Agriculture is a complicated industry, requiring intense coordination at all levels to ensure farmers can do their job and put the food we eat on the table. The farm bureaus across our nation at the federal, state, and local level are essential to making that happen.
The Florida Farm Bureau, which reports to the national level American Farm Bureau, has representation in each county in the state. Our own Polk County Farm Bureau is making waves as one of the best around after recently winning the prestigious Apex Award.
“The Polk County Farm Bureau is a grassroots organization, which means that all of our policies come from the county level,” explains Polk County Farm Bureau Program Executive Director Carole McKenzie. “We have a set of committees within our board that operate to address all the things we hope to accomplish.”
If a farmer or rancher is dealing with a particular issue, the bureau will listen to the issue and help to develop policy at the local, state, and federal level to aid them.
Every year, the state bureau supplies a county recognition guide that serves as a guide for what work will be carried out that year by each bureau. At the end of the year, bureaus are recognized for their performance in a variety of categories. This year, Polk County took home quite the series of awards, winning:
- President’s Award
- Excellence in Legislative/Policy Implementation
- Excellence in Public Relations
- Excellence in Organization & Management
- Excellence in Education/Agriculture Promotion
- Excellence in Leadership Development
- Excellence in Membership
The Polk County Farm Bureau was able to win these awards thanks to its hard work on a number of initiatives, including:
- The Farm-City Week essay contest, where students write an essay on a different important agriculture topic every year.
- Agri-Fest, an educational event held in the spring of each year along with the UF/IFAS Polk Extension Office and Polk County Public Schools
- Social events such as the women’s leadership trip to Southern Hill Farms in Clermont
The President’s Award is only awarded to bureaus that win an excellence award in every category, making it a prestigious honor. But it’s not the highest award the state farm bureau gives; among those who win the president’s award, one is chosen for the highest honor available — the Apex Award.
“The County Recognition Program promotes excellence in six different categories, and the Apex Award is given for county farm bureaus that excel in all of them,” explains Jared Lanier, Florida Farm Bureau Federation Director of Field Services. “[The Polk County Farm Bureau] have gone above and beyond, and have had the highest innovation, the most effective use of resources, and proven results.”
The county bureaus are split into six different groups based on their size, and only one county in each group can win the prestigious Apex Award. With Polk County being in the largest group, taking home this award was no small feat.
“All the counties we were up against have great programming, so it was tough competition, and we were super excited when we won,” recounts McKenzie.
Polk County Farm Bureau President Michael Mattison was also thrilled with the bureau’s victory.
“I was honored to be able to receive the Apex award at the Florida Farm Bureau Annual Meeting on behalf of our members,” he says.
“It is our membership that drives our county efforts, and their daily dedication to agriculture advocacy is what makes this recognition so rewarding. We are also blessed with a great staff that work tirelessly to enhance Polk County Farm Bureau, and they are a big part of our success.”
The victory comes as no surprise to anyone outside the Polk County Farm Bureau.
“Polk County has just done a phenomenal job,” says Lanier. “If there’s anything happening, the Polk County Farm Bureau is involved with it because they understand and recognize the importance of agriculture for their community.”
When asked about the secret to their success, McKenzie chalked it up to their strong focus on community, leadership, and education.
“We’re really good at leadership development, and we work to grow our leadership from the ground up with Agri-Fest, school curriculum, the Polk Young Farmer and Rancher Committee, 4-H, and FFA. And when it comes to all the different programs we have throughout the year, we put in the effort and commitment to implement them at an Apex level.”
Sarah Waldman, Program Coordinator at the Polk County Farm Bureau, also emphasized the importance of supporting agriculture education in the county.
“Anything that has to do with education is something that really makes Polk County stand out. We go above and beyond in those areas to make sure that agriculture is being supported in our county.”
