At the Tulsa Farm Show, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays caught up with Oklahoma Farm Bureau Director of Membership and OKBF Foundation for Agriculture Holly Carroll and discussed the farm show and an update on all things OKFB.
OKFB is the lead sponsor for the Tulsa Farm Show, Carroll said, as the show is a great highlight for producers around the state because of the traffic from vendors and visitors from multiple states.
“On Friday at the farm show, we are going to have a members luncheon, so if you are a member and you are here on Friday, come by and join us for lunch,” Carroll said. “We have our Bridge events Friday and Saturday, and then Saturday night, we have an ag defense dinner to help raise some funds to help fight state questions or issues that may arise that we need to put some money towards.”
Carrol talked about some new programs that OKFB has launched to hit more age groups and demographics of members. Carroll said one of those new programs is the Generation Bridge program.
Generation Bridge serves as a stepping stone after Young Farmers and Ranchers with an opportunity for members to get involved in OKFB beyond the county level as they work to develop connections across the state, expand their knowledge of Farm Bureau and create lasting memories.
“In the past, our Young Farmers and Ranchers program stops at age 35, and then you kind of lose some people along the way,” Carroll said. “We wanted a way to keep them engaged and just connected with Farm Bureau, so we created this Bridge program.”
The Generation Bridge program, Carroll said, helps to create networking opportunities for those who are over age 35 and cannot participate in the Young Farmers and Ranchers program.
“Just trying to create a networking opportunity for them, and more importantly, just a mental health space to just connect, take a break, and talk about issues together to try to protect that mental health of our farmers and ranchers,” Carroll said.
Generation Bridge members will meet on December 8-9 at the Stoney Creek Hotel in Broken Arrow. Carroll said anyone is welcome to join the conference.
The conference will allow farmers and ranchers across the state to network with fellow agriculturalists, grow their professional and leadership skills, and learn more about the industry.
