The Payne County Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers committee was honored with the Oklahoma Farm Bureau YF&R Charles L. Roff Award as a part of a special awards presentation on Friday, Nov. 13.
Presented to the state’s top county YF&R committee, the Charles L. Roff Award encourages YF&R members to improve their local committees while strengthening the Farm Bureau organization.
Payne County YF&R committee earned the award for its work to promote Farm Bureau and agriculture throughout its local community.
“Everyone has been struggling this year with the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Sara Rush, Payne County YF&R committee chair. “We were trying to find different ways to be involved in the community and spread the importance of agriculture throughout these tough times.”
The Payne County YF&R planned, coordinated and hosted a bucket calf competition for children ages 5 to 12 at the county livestock show, giving local youth an opportunity to showcase all of the hard work on their livestock projects through an in-person interview and showmanship competition.
The YF&R committee, alongside other Payne County Farm Bureau members, hosted a coat drive throughout the community. They collected coats at six locations to donate to Payne County Children’s Welfare. In total, 201 coats and $250 was donated to the organization.
“We were looking outside of our organization to see who needed help during the pandemic,” Rush said. “Since we knew people were struggling with jobs and food, we helped out at Our Daily Bread in Stillwater and the food bank in Cushing.”
Many Payne County YF&R members were active on the state level, attending legislative events, YF&R conferences and OKFB events.
The county received a plaque in recognition for their outstanding committee involvement.
“We have a solid group of young leaders in Payne County, and they are servant leaders and have hearts are in agriculture,” Rush said. “Next year, we plan on being more involved in the community than ever before.”
Awards are typically presented during the organization’s annual meeting in November, but OKFB opted to conduct a virtual business meeting this year to protect members’ health and safety. Award winners will be highlighted throughout the month of November on OKFB’s website and social media platforms.
For a full list of OKFB awards, visit okfarmbureau.org/awards2020.
