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Texas Agriculture Archive

January 20, 2006

County FBs recognized
for membership

State Director Bobby Nedbalek (left) receives the President's Trophy from TFB President Kenneth Dierschke on behalf of District 13. The President's Trophy is awarded to the district that is highest in three ratings: largest percentage membership renewals, largest percentage increase in new members, and highest membership renewal percentage.

State Director Joe Kapavik (right) receives an award from President Dierschke on behalf of District 4 for the district with the highest membership gain.

State Director Arthur Bluntzer (left) receives an award from President Dierschke on behalf of District 12 for the district with the highest membership renewal percentage.

The state's largest farm organization became even larger in 2005 with a gain of 4,569 member families.

"There is strength in numbers," said TFB President Kenneth Diers-chke. "We are proud of our 387,863 member families, and we always take time to recognize county Farm Bureaus for membership work."

Those county Farm Bureaus from across the state were recognized for membership achievements in a number of categories at the Texas Farm Bureau 72^nd annual convention.

"An active membership is the heart and soul of the state's largest farm organization," said Texas Farm Bureau President Kenneth Dierschke. "We are proud of these county Farm Bureau efforts to make our organization stronger."

The county Farm Bureaus signing up the most new members included the following: Collin, 1,698; Fort Bend, 1,230; Brazoria, 1,116; Bell, 1,052; Harris, 1,048; Hidalgo, 896; Jefferson, 890; Ellis, 800; Kaufman, 796; and McLennan, 733.

The highest membership renewal percentages were achieved by the following county Farm Bureaus: Throckmorton, 97.56 percent; Val Verde, 95.60 percent; Castro, 94.50 percent; Crosby, 93.06 percent; Mason, 92.84 percent; Gillespie, 91.93 percent; Fayette, 91.83 percent; Washington, 91.58 percent; Floyd, 91.54 percent; and Archer, 91.45 percent.

County Farm Bureaus reporting the largest membership gain included the following: Brazoria, 392; Nueces, 332; Collin, 292; Parker, 251; Bowie, 231; Hidalgo, 216; Hopkins-Rains, 181; Fort Bend, 170; Kaufman, 160; and Johnson, 142.

County Farm Bureaus with the largest membership include the following: Collin, 8,688; Fort Bend, 6,765; Brazoria, 6,493; Bell, 6,238; Harris, 6,052; Ellis, 5,602; McLennan, 5,247; Hidalgo, 4,918; Denton, 4,745; and Grayson, 4,681.

County Farm Bureaus with the longest continuous gain in membership include the following: DeWitt, 56 years; Franklin, 25 years; Erath and Live Oak, 19 years; Henderson, 16 years; Atascosa, Bell, Blanco, Comal, Gillespie, Hill, Medina, Montague, Navarro, Randall and Tyler, 14 years; and Burnet, Collin, Harrison, Kaufman, Sabine and Shelby, 13 years.

Meanwhile, the American Farm Bureau Federation achieved another year of strong nationwide membership growth, adding more than 94,000 member families to its ranks in 2005. Membership now stands at a record 5,712,515 member families for the national organization.