County Farm Bureau board members recently gathered at The Sheraton Refuge in Jackson to attend a County Board Advocacy Training in an effort to begin 2023 strong.

After celebrating 100 years of faith, family and Farm Bureau in 2022, the training was designed to re-energize county leaders.

“It’s good to find out what everybody’s doing, put all our thoughts together and come together to try to have the best board we can for our county,” Jones County Farm Bureau Board Member Kirby Maulding said.

Long-time and first-time county board members heard from national and local advocacy experts, learning what could happen in Washington, D.C. and Jackson this year and how those actions could affect their counties and their farms.

One of those experts included Cody Lyon, American Farm Bureau Federation Managing Director, Advocacy and Political Affairs.

“You want to have members who want to go in and be part of changing the policy, editing the policy, making the policy stronger, making the policy fit the needs of the members in the current environment that we have now,” Lyon said.

Other speakers included Justin Ferguson, Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation National Affairs Coordinator, and Camille Scales Young, Cornerstone Government Affairs Principal and Director.

One of the distinguishing features between Farm Bureau and other organizations is its grassroots structure. Through the Farm Bureau structure – beginning at the county Farm Bureau level and proceeding through state and national levels – producers annually evaluate the problems of agriculture and rural living and make recommendations to formulate Farm Bureau policy. Because of this, MFBF maintains offices in all 82 Mississippi counties.

“We get our strength from our grassroots leadership,” said MFBF President Mike McCormick. “That is why it’s so important for us to provide these county leaders with opportunities like this to know what is going on at the state and national levels. Without them, we would not be able to make such an impact.”