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NH Farm Bureau 102nd Annual Meeting Recap

New Hampshire Farm Bureau Federation Holds
102nd Annual Meeting. New Slate of Officers and
Award Winners Announced

New Hampshire Farm Bureau Federation (NHFB) held its 102nd Annual Meeting on November 2nd and 3rd at the Mountain View Grand Resort in Whitefield, NH. The event, hosted by Coos County Farm Bureau, offered tours of local agricultural operations Fuller’s Sugarhouse and Forbes Dairy Farm, workshops, and competitions all in support of the theme “A Harvest of Farming History”

The culmination of NHFB’s grassroots policy development process occurs during the Meeting of the House of Delegates as part of each year’s Annual Meeting. Delegates, elected by their county Farm Bureau, met the morning of November 3rd to vote on the policies that will guide NHFB’s work in the coming year and to elect a slate of officers for 2019. The elected slate of officers is as follows: Denis Ward of Monroe – President, Joyce Brady of Columbia – 1st Vice President, Matt Scruton of Rochester – 2nd Vice President, Rebecca Stevens of Epsom – 2nd Vice President, Howard Pearl of Loudon – Treasurer.

The Annual Meeting Banquet, held the evening of November 2nd, recognized outstanding achievements and contributions to agriculture from NHFB members. To view the full list of awards given out that evening, click here.

  • The 102nd Annual Meeting of New Hampshire Farm Bureau started off with a farm tour of Fuller's Sugarhouse. Here owner David Fuller explains how sap flows throughout the facility while Stan Knecht looks on.

 

Farm Bureau Hands Out Prestigious Profile Award at Annual Meeting

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Bobby Drown (right) is presented with the 2016 New Hampshire Farm Bureau Federation Profile Award by past Profile Award winner John Porter.

Concord, NH – New Hampshire Farm Bureau Federation has the honor of presenting the Profile Award each year to recognize a New Hampshire person or persons for distinguished service to agriculture and rural life.  Nominations come from each county Farm Bureau Board of Directors and are judged by a panel of past Profile Award winners.

The 2016 Profile Award was given to Robert “Bobby” Drown of Great Ash Farm in Webster, NH. Bobby is a third generation farm manager at his family’s dairy farm and raises thanksgiving turkeys as well. He has been involved with and a supporter of 4-H since the 1960’s and has worked closely with the Merrimack County Conservation District, earning Merrimack County District Cooperator of the year in 2000.

As a Farm Bureau member for 49 years, Bobby has held several leadership roles including Merrimack County Farm Bureau President and currently sits on the MCFB Board of Directors. He is well known for his commitment to growing Farm Bureau membership.

Ryan Cox Wins Young Farmer Discussion Meet

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Ryan Cox (left) is presented a certificate and check for winning the 2016 New Hampshire Farm Bureau Young Farmer’s Discussion Meet by past Discussion Meet winner Alicia Pedemonti.

Concord, NH – The goal of the NHFB Young Farmer Discussion Meet is to develop leaders for effective problem solving through group discussion, similar to the organization’s grass-roots Policy Development process. The Discussion Meet gives an opportunity for Young Farmers to build basic discussion skills, give and receive criticism in a helpful manner, develop an understanding of important issues, explore and pool knowledge to reach consensus, and solve problems. The three contestants who participated in this year’s competition were Christina Murdock, DVM, of Dunbarton, Tyler Matteson of Contoocook, and the winner, Ryan Cox of Derry.

Ryan is a freshman at Plymouth State University, a past Vice-President of the Granite State Association of FFA, and a former Farm Bureau intern. Ryan will be moving on to compete this January at the American Farm Bureau Annual Convention in Phoenix, Arizona.

Matarozzos Win Animal Husbandry Award

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Amy (center) & Brian Matarozzo of LorrenJoyce Farm in Ctr. Barnstead are presented with the Young Farmer Animal Husbandry Award by Rep. Alexis Simpson.

Concord, NH – The Animal Husbandry Award has been developed by the New Hampshire Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmer program to promote sound animal husbandry and to recognize individuals who have implemented exceptional livestock welfare practices on their farm. Candidates for this award are nominated by their fellow Young Farmers and the judging is based on a set of criteria, including best management practices. A panel of judges consisting of Representative Alexis Simpson of Exeter, Christina Murdock, DVM of Dunbarton, and UNH Professor Emeritus John Porter of Boscawen selected Amy & Brian Matarozzo of LorrenJoyce Farm in Center Barnstead as this year’s winners.

Amy & Brian currently raise Hereford beef cattle and milk registered jersey cows to sell raw milk and USDA certified beef direct to consumers. In addition to cows, they also have 180 laying hens for egg production. Amy and Brian have both been involved heavily with the Young Farmers Committee. Amy presently serves as the committee’s Chairperson.

Also nominated for this award were Jeff Moore of Windswept Maples Farm in Loudon and Adam Crete of Highway View Farm in Boscawen

Pedemonti Earns Young Farmer Excellence In Agriculture Award

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Alicia Pedemonti (right) receives the Young Farmer Excellence in Agriculture Award from USDA Farm Service Agency State Executive Director Bruce Cilley.

Concord, NH – To acknowledge the efforts of Young Farmers who do not derive the majority of their income from farming, but are actively contributing to agriculture and to their community, the American Farm Bureau Federation and the New Hampshire Farm Bureau Federation annually conducts the Excellence in Agriculture Award competition. The winner of the New Hampshire competition moves on to compete nationally in Phoenix, Arizona this January. A panel of judges consisting of Representative Bob Haefner, Chair of the House Environment and Agriculture Committee; Bruce Cilley, State Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency; and Ruth Scruton, President of the NHFB Associated Women selected Alicia Pedemonti as the 2016 Winner.

Alicia graduated from the University of Vermont in 2011 with her Bachelors in Animal Science and after taking a year off, started working on a Master of Public Health from the University of New England which she completed in 2015. She now works as a Veterinary Technician for the NH Department of Agriculture, Markets & Food and has held that position for almost five years. Her primary responsibility is overseeing the tuberculosis and brucellosis surveillance program in cattle and goats. This means she gets to spend the bulk of her year going to cattle farms in NH. She also works part time as the Executive Director of the Northeast Pork Association. In May of 2016 Alicia was appointed to the National Pork Board by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.  

Also nominated for the award were Brian Matarozzo of Center Barnstead, Dalton Thayer of North Haverhill, and Erik Fredrickson of Wolfboro.