Ag Day Breakfast, program to highlight 100th anniversary of Indiana Farm Bureau

Thursday, March 7, 2019
For capturing the 2018 harvest in motion, Ellen Davies of Cloverdale is the winner of the 2019 Ag Day Photo Contest. Davies and her fellow winners (featured on the following pages) will be honored on Saturday during Ag Day ceremonies.
Courtesy photo/ELLEN DAVIES

The Putnam County Ag Breakfast will be on Saturday, March 9 at the York Auto Family Community Building.

Pancakes and sausage will be served from 8-9 a.m. Cost of the breakfast is only $1. All proceeds benefit Putnam County 4-H, FFA or Fairgrounds improvements.

A short program will begin at 9 a.m. featuring the 100th anniversary of Indiana Farm Bureau, given by Farm Bureau Regional Manager Keegan Poe, who serves Bartholomew, Brown, Hendricks, Johnson, Morgan and Putnam counties.

The program will also include announcing this year’s winners of the Ag Day Photo Contest and Hall of Fame Awards.

It will conclude by around 9:30 a.m., with the Mini Farm Fest following beginning at 10 a.m. and lasting until noon.

The Ag Breakfast is presented by the Putnam County Ag Breakfast Group consisting of county-wide agri-business individuals. Special recognition of breakfast sponsors goes to the Putnam County Community Foundation and to Putnam County Farm Bureau, Inc. Other contributors and sponsors for the breakfast include Almost Home, Burger King, Kroger, McDonald’s, Putnam Inn, Subway, Farm Credit Mid-America, First Financial Bank, First National Bank, Hoosier Heartland State Bank, North Salem State Bank, PNC Bank and Tri-County Bank.

Poe will be speaking on the history of Indiana Farm Bureau. Since its founding in 1919, INFB has remained focused on the same mission – to promote agriculture through public education, member engagement, and by advocating for agricultural and rural needs.

Indiana Farm Bureau was founded on March 25, 1919, under the name Indiana Federation of Farmers’ Associations. Its creation was one of the first Farm Bureaus in the nation.

At its first meeting at the Claypool Hotel in downtown Indianapolis, the organization was formed to protect the interests of farmers by education, legislation and other honorable means to promote the largest good for all people. While primarily an advocacy organization, INFB also served as a social network for Indiana’s rural farmers, especially in its earlier years.

Started by just a few farmers, INFB rapidly grew and reached several membership milestones. INFB reached 100,000 members in 1952 and was the first state Farm Bureau to reach 250,000 members, which it did in 1977. Since its founding, INFB has continued to grow with the help of county Farm Bureaus across the state.

In 1922, just two years after women earned the right to vote in the United States, INFB outlined a program to incorporate women into the organization, which still exists today as INFB’s Women’s Leadership Committee. In 1923, Edna Sewell was the first woman to be elected to the INFB board of directors.

In order to help Indiana’s farmers with their unique insurance needs, INFB founded Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance in 1934. Its first insurance policy was sold in February 1935.

Throughout the years, INFB has been instrumental in educating Hoosiers about the issues and concerns of Indiana’s farming community and has encouraged its members to advocate for their needs locally and at the state and national levels. For example, in 1939, 15,000 INFB members marched to the Statehouse to successfully save Gross Income Tax repeal. And in 2016, INFB helped reduce farmland property taxes by approximately $500 million.

As the organization grew, it continued to build a variety of programs. In 1982, INFB formed Farming the Classroom, now called Agriculture in the Classroom, which is a volunteer-led program that teaches children across the state about farming and where their food comes from. In 1938, INFB formed Indiana Rural Youth, a networking and education program for young adults in farming. Today, INFB runs a Young Farmers program, which provides education, leadership and networking opportunities for young adults in agriculture.

Over the past 100 years, INFB has evolved to meet the needs of Indiana’s farmers and agribusiness professionals while remaining a grassroots, member-driven organization.

To learn more about INFB’s history, visit www.infarmbureau.org/about/history/INFB100.

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