Fall doesn’t officially start until September, but August is the unofficial end of summer as a new school year begins. Even those of us who don’t have children in school feel the transition as churches, organizations and activities pick back up after a summer break.

Farmers are beginning to transition to fall as well. Our focus begins to move from irrigating crops and checking fields to preparing equipment for harvest and waiting impatiently for crops to dry down for harvest. 

This little gap is the perfect time for seed meetings, harvest parties and county Farm Bureau’s annual meetings. People in agriculture love to come together for a meal, a good speaker and to catch up with the neighbors.

Over the last few years, I have attended many county Farm Bureau annual meetings in the 11 counties of District 7 as our VOTEFBF (Kansas Farm Bureau’s political action committee) representative. It has been an honor and an interesting experience to attend these meetings.

No two meetings are the same, each has its own personality and culture that shows through in the event’s design. Some serve full meals, while others have appetizers, desserts or charcuterie boards. I’ve attended breakfasts, dinners and events at all times in between. The meeting programs range from educational to motivational, some feature remarks from elected representatives and others are just the essential business and recognitions for accomplishments in the previous years.

The recognitions are one of my favorite parts. There are a variety of awards given by most counties with eligible candidates including the Century Farm awards for farms that have been in continuous ownership of the same family for 100 years, Farm Family of the Year recognizing the service of a family to the organization, Friend of Agriculture or Distinguished Service awards for contributors to the agriculture community and the Natural Resources award celebrating conservation practices on the farm. 

It is cool to hear about how a family farm has grown and changed over a century, what farmers are doing to improve the health and sustainability of their most important resources and how individuals are making an impact on agriculture and their communities through service. Farmers don’t seek or get a lot of recognition and these awards are a small way to recognize years of small and large contributions both lead to significant results over time.

The other thing that really makes attending the meetings a joy for me is the people. It is fun to meet new people and learn about their farms or to see members I have known for years and catch up on life and how crops are looking in their part of the world. There is something incredibly affirming about being in a room full of people who share your values, goals and challenges.

Since the pandemic many organizations have struggled to get event attendance back to former levels. Even though events may not be as full as they once were, I am thankful that organizations keep innovating and trying. Farming can be a lonely and somewhat thankless profession. It is important that we have meetings, harvest parties or grower education that bring people together to share a meal, new ideas and good conversation.

Whether you are a farmer or not, there are organizations and businesses in your community hosting meetings or celebrations. Make time to attend an event because we need to celebrate each other’s success and look forward to better ways. We need to appreciate our community and the people in it. 

“Insight” is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service.