CALAVERAS COUNTY FARM BUREAU

CFBF began producing television programs in 1964, with a weekly program also titled Voice of Agriculture. The program began as a combination of in-studio guests and educational films before evolving into a newsmagazine format in the early 1980s. Retitled California Country in 1996, the program now reaches viewers on stations and cable systems throughout California, plus a nationwide audience via the RFD-TV satellite service.

Farm Bureau's communications efforts took a new direction in 1996, when the organization entered cyberspace. CFBF launched CFBF.com, providing news and information about Farm Bureau and California agriculture to computer users around the world. In 2009, the www.californiacountry.org site debuted, featuring content from the television program and magazine, plus other features.

Throughout its history, Farm Bureau has remained a flexible organization, adding new functions when needed by its members and discontinuing other programs to reflect changing times.

Sparked by unionization drives and other labor unrest, CFBF delegates approved creation of the Farm Employers Labor Service in 1970. The service provided farm employers with labor-relations advice and group legal services. Following passage of the state Agriculture Labor Relations Act in 1975, FELS expanded its staff to include field representatives working in eight regions of California and Oregon. A wholly owned subsidiary of Farm Bureau, FELS has expanded to offer a wide range of personnel management services.

As California's population grew during the 1960s and '70s, Farm Bureau saw the need to assure adequate representation for farmers and rural residents on the state's elected bodies. In 1976, CFBF formed a political action committee, FARM PACsm, which supports candidates who understand agriculture.

In fact, the increased awareness of the need to deal directly with legislators and government agencies prompted Farm Bureau to move its offices to the state capital, after 60 years in Berkeley. CFBF had operated since 1961 from offices on Berkeley's Telegraph Avenue, but in 1979 relocated to offices on Exposition Boulevard in Sacramento. In October 1997, the organization moved into its current offices at 2300 River Plaza Drive, just northwest of downtown Sacramento.

The continued urbanization of California brought a sobering realization to farmers: Many people had no idea where their food came from or what was necessary to bring that food to their tables. That realization brought a creative solution. CFBF created an Agriculture Education Program in 1980, to incorporate agriculture into the regular curricula of the state's elementary and secondary schools.