“Working together works,” as the saying goes, and county Farm Bureaus in Allen and Whitley counties would agree with this statement.

In 2022 and 2023, the two counties worked together on an event that combined a fun activity for both associate and voting members with a chance for members to learn more about local congressional candidates.

"Our goal was to successfully implement an event for voting members that would also be of interest to associate members,” said Alayne Johnson, Whitley County Farm Bureau president. “We really wanted to engage with our associate members.”

For this program, the Allen and Whitley County Farm Bureaus received one of Indiana Farm Bureau’s 2023 County Activities of Excellence awards in the “Adding Value by Sharing Knowledge” category.

In 2023, the program, which the two counties intend to continue this year, consisted of a member appreciation event in September at Kuehnert Dairy Farm, a working dairy farm and agritourism site in Allen County. This gave Farm Bureau an opportunity to share information about current farming practices with associate members, who may be more removed from agriculture.

“Lots of our people have never been on a farm,” said Tom Miller, Allen County Farm Bureau president. Johnson added that in 2022, the event was held at a local putt-putt golf course, which did bring in associate members but didn’t offer an opportunity to discuss agriculture with them.

Besides offering Kuehnert’s agritourism activities, the two Farm Bureaus also provided a simple lunch of grilled hamburgers and hotdogs.

Additionally, local officials and congressional candidates were invited and given an opportunity to speak, helping inform voters on the candidates that hoped to represent them in Congress and also exposing those candidates to the farming community and their local Farm Bureau.

“The candidates seemed to like it,” Miller said, adding, that quite a few of the attendees did talk to the candidates. “They seemed to learn a lot.”

In 2023, Whitley County held its annual meeting in conjunction with the event, and Allen County is considering doing the same thing in 2024.

“I encourage people to work together with their neighboring county Farm Bureaus,” Johnson said.

A toolkit providing specific information about how to organize a similar event can be found on INFB’s website, www.infb.org/toolkits. Under the “Resources” tab, click on the “For Volunteers” link. There you will find a link for “County Marketing Toolkits and Webinars.”