5 Things members should know about...The Cook County Farm Bureau Commodities/ Marketing Team
1. Team members are volunteers within the Cook County Farm Bureau with a desire to help farmers and potential farmers succeed financially in Cook County by providing informtion, programming, and tools to assist.
2. Team members are made up of volunteers with expertise in equine, greenhouse, and traditional farming; ag engineering; small farm consulting; soil expertise; and environmental and farming sustainability. What a Team!
3. The Commodities & Marketing Team sponsored the first Cook County Farm Bureau's annual Giant Pumpkin Contest in 2000; the contest produced a record setting 1,117-pound pumpkin.
4. The Team is generous: annually offering grants to assist community gardens in Cook County and creating partners with CCFB member businesses. The team also works with our Foundation to offer financial assistance for members interested in training to become county Master Gardeners or enrolling in Master Urban Farmer Training Program through the U of I Extension, Cook County Unit.
5. The team works with Farm Bureau staff to develop and deliver programming resources for our members. Popular firsts include: Creating a Small Farm Enterprise, Farming on your Balcony, Beekeeping, Intro to Chicks, Hemp, Food, & Farming Forums, Meet the Buyers, Land Lease, Regulation & Compliance, Timber Harvesting, Farm Dinner, Farm Crawls, How to... Grow a Giant Pumpkin, Make a Planter, Marketing for Today's Consumers, Going Organic, Vineyard Growing, Using Drones in Ag, Composting, Going Solar, CookFresh Recipe Brochures, and more!
This Team can trace its roots back to the inception of the CCFB 100 years ago!
Note: Members interested in participating in the C/M Team or in supporting their goals and objectives can contact Deb Voltz of the Cook County Farm Bureau, at [email protected].