The Scheffel family of Pryor, Oklahoma, received the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee District Six Farm and Ranch Family Recognition during the organization’s annual meeting on Nov. 10 in Norman, Oklahoma.
Jonathan and Bessie Scheffel have cow-calf herd and raise wheat and soybeans on 800 acres in Mayes County. Jonathan Scheffel is the fourth generation to farm in the area, and the couple is proud to have raised their three children – Jacob, Jeremy and Jessica – on the farm.
“There’s no better place to raise a family than in the country and on the farm,” Jonathan Scheffel said. “I told our kids that they don’t have to be farmers, but I want them to know what it takes to produce food, where it comes from and to have that appreciation for agriculture.”
“Family has always been really, really, really important to us,” Bessie Scheffel said. “Of course, God’s first and family is second.”
Education has long been a priority for the Scheffel family as they are always looking for new ways to improve their farming practices and produce the highest-quality products possible.
Their love for education even extended into their local community for years as they previously hosted school groups on their farm to share their story in agriculture.
The Scheffel’s oldest son, Jacob, has focused his own life-long love of agriculture into a cow herd of his own, and he is very involved in the family’s farming operation. Jacob shared his passion for agriculture through a one-year mission trip to Senegal, Africa, where he helped teach local residents how to better grow food.
Off the farm, Bessie Scheffel provides in-home care for elderly residents of her community, a job that she takes on as a calling.
“It’s an honor to be able to do what I do,” Bessie Scheffel said. “I feel like it’s the gift that God gave me.”
Jonathan Scheffel has been a Farm Bureau member most of his life, and he currently serves on the Mayes County Farm Bureau board as county president. Previously, he served on the county’s Farm Service Agency Committee for 28 years, and the couple was chosen as American Soybean Association DuPont Young Leaders. Bessie Scheffel is involved with community quilting and sewing groups, through which she donates finished projects to community groups. The Scheffels are actively involved in their local churches in a variety of ways.
OKFB’s Farm and Ranch Family Recognition program honors a farm and ranch family in each of OKFB’s nine districts who uphold the best traditions of Oklahoma agriculture and rural Oklahoma as they raise food and fiber for our state and beyond.
“Our Women’s Leadership Committee is proud to honor these families who have dedicated themselves to growing food for our world,” said Kitty Beavers, OKFB WLC Chairman. “Farming and ranching is an important way of life for our state, and these families deserve recognition for contributing to rural Oklahoma as they instill in their children the values of hard work and dedication that is needed throughout our state.”
As part of their recognition, the family received a cash award along with a custom sign to hang at their farm gate.
The Oklahoma Farm Bureau Annual Meeting is the organization’s largest gathering of farmers and ranchers every year. At the event, members vote on grassroots policy, elect leaders and award outstanding individuals. OKFB has a presence in all 77 Oklahoma counties and serves as the voice of agriculture and the rural way of life. To learn more, visit www.okfarmbureau.org.
