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Mission of the Committee:
"The Kansas
Farm Bureau Women's Committee contributes an essential
perspective to the organization, broadening opportunities
for women to become increasingly involved in all aspects of
Farm Bureau, actively participating in the implementation of
priority issues involving agriculture education, improving
the quality of life in rural communities, promotion of the
industry and agricultural advocacy."
2010 Benefit Silent
Auction
We
are looking forward to the 15th
Anniversary of the Benefit
Silent Auction hosted by the State
Committee of Farm Bureau Women. This
year's auction is scheduled for
November 19 during the KFB
Annual Meeting. Everyone seems
to enjoy the friendly competition of
this fun event while raising money
for the KFB Foundation for
Agriculture so be sure to stop by
and place a bid on several of your
favorite items.
Please send your item
prior to
November 19 so the
auction is ready to accept bids as
soon as registration opens.
You may access the 2010 donation
form
here. Be sure to send
it along with your item.
As a "thank you" for
making the effort to get your item
here in advance, we will take a
photo of your donation and post it
below. All items are posted in
the order they were received.
Tip: Type "Control F" then "County
Name or Person" donating the item as
search criteria to find the item you
are interested in.
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2010 Benefit Silent Auction Donated Items
(click on the picture to
enlarge)
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Silk Farm Bureau Scarf

Donated by: Lois Moss,
2nd District Women's
Chair
Value: $30
Winning Bid:
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Lego City:
7636 Combine Harvester

Donated
by: KFB Member Relations
Value: $50
Winning
Bid:
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Past
Results
With 124 items
donated to our 2009 auction, proceeds were
$4,303!
The 2nd largest since 1995!
Through our KFB Foundation for
Agriculture, those proceeds will be
used to promote agricultural
literacy by placing our children's
book series "Kailey's Ag Adventures"
and lesson plans in Kansas
classrooms.
In 2008, proceeds of
$3,867
were evenly divided between the
KFB Foundations.
Thank you for the generous
donations that have made
this event a success since 1995!
Over the years, this collective
effort has raised
$47,555!
We have no doubt proceeds from
the 2010 auction will help us
surpass $50,000 in donations!

2010
County Leadership Conference
Materials from the "Top
10 Reasons to Have a Women's
Leadership Committee" workshop:
Materials from the "Warming up to
DIY Programs" workshop:

White-Reinhardt Fund Awards
Mini-Grants Awarded For Agricultural Education
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 16, 2010 - The
American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture, along with the AFB
Women's Leadership Committee, has awarded thirty $500 mini-grants to
communities across the nation. The grants are awarded through the
Foundation's White-Reinhardt Fund for Education program.
Distributed through county and state Farm Bureaus, the grants are used
to fund new projects or extend existing agricultural education efforts.
Criteria for selecting the winners included: the effectiveness of
demonstrating a strong connection between agriculture and education; how
effectively the programs encouraged students to learn more about
agriculture and the food and fiber industry; and the procedures and
timelines expected for accomplishing project goals.
"It is exciting to see so many creative and effective programs in use or
being developed. They help educate students about the complexities
of agriculture and encourage future involvement," said Curtis Miller,
director of education at the Foundation.
The White-Reinhardt Fund for Education is a project of the AFB
Foundation for Agriculture in cooperation with the AFB Women's
Leadership Committee. The fund honors two former committee
chairwomen, Berta White and former chair if the Kansas Farm Bureau
Women's Committee, Linda Reinhardt, who were leaders in early national
efforts to expand the outreach of agricultural education and improve
agricultural literacy.
2010 Mini-Grants Awarded to
State and County Farm Bureaus:
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Brown County Farm Bureau, Ohio |
Expansion of Soils 2.0 education project. |
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Bureau County Farm Bureau, Ill. |
Farm-related books and puppets. |
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Butts County Farm Bureau, Ga. |
Ag-related books and teaching kits for K-5 media
centers. |
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Carroll County Farm Bureau, Ill. |
Commodity kits. |
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Christian County Farm Bureau, Ill. |
Display of various crops grown in the county. |
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Clark County Farm Bureau, Ill. |
Kits with books, puzzles, puppets and a teaching
manual for schools. |
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Cook County Farm Bureau, Ill. |
SMART Board lessons for ag educators. |
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Effingham County Farm Bureau, Ill. |
Agricultural education kits for county elementary
schools. |
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Garrard County Farm Bureau, Ky. |
Mobile classroom with hands-on
agriculture-related science experiments. |
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Gove County Farm Bureau, Kan. |
Incubator for hatching chicks in the classroom. |
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Greene County Farm Bureau, Ind. |
Books/computer tests for classrooms through the
Holy Cow! Ag Ed program for grades for K-3. |
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Kansas Farm Bureau |
Display featuring characters from the Kailey’s
Ag Adventure book series. |
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Knox County Farm Bureau, Tenn. |
Nutrition project that traces the origins of
food. |
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Marshall-Putnam County Farm Bureau, Ill. |
Farmer Mac’s Farm kits for schools. |
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Martin County Farm Bureau, Ky. |
Program to teach students about the heritage of
farming. |
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Michigan Farm Bureau |
Farm-To-Table Ag Trivia cards and CDs. |
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Muskegon County Farm Bureau, Mich. |
Bookcase Barns filled with ag education
information for schools. |
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Newton County Farm Bureau, Ga. |
Promoting a different Georgia commodity to
students each month during the school year. |
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Northwest Michigan County Farm Bureau, Mich. |
Farmers READ program (volunteers read with
students). |
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Peoria County Farm Bureau, Ill. |
SMART Board to enhance current agricultural
lessons. |
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Pope-Hardin County Farm Bureau, Ill. |
Microscope for life science program, so students
can observe chicken embryos in the shell. |
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Powhatan County Farm Bureau, Va. |
Educational stations for Farm Day.
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Richardson County Farm Bureau, Neb. |
Agripreneurship project to
help students begin a career in agriculture. |
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Sauk County Farm Bureau, Wis. |
Discover Agriculture presentation series for
second graders. |
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Stafford County Farm Bureau, Kan. |
Hands-on afterschool learning project about the
lifecycle and care of chickens. |
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Switzerland County Farm Bureau, Ind. |
Read, Touch, Taste program for Kindergarteners. |
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Washington County Farm Bureau, Kan. |
Incredible Edible Garden project. |
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Washtenaw County Farm Bureau, Mich. |
Ecological Gardens project. |
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Western Palm Beach County Farm Bureau, Fla. |
Updating two traveling Learning Barns. |
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Windham County Farm Bureau, Conn. |
Program for fourth graders on compost and the
importance of natural recycling. |

Women's
Committee
Meetings
The State
Committee of Farm Bureau
Women met April 12, 2010 in
Manhattan, KS. Click
here to see the minutes from
the meeting.
Committee members and several
KFB staff members toured
The Deanna Rose Children's
Farmstead prior to the August 09 meeting.
Those pictures are posted below.
(click on the picture to
enlarge)

Meet Your State Women's Committee
CHAIR Helen Norris - Sumner County Serving since 1993

Helen Norris was elected Kansas
Farm Bureau Women’s Committee
chair at the 1997 KFB annual
meeting and serves as the Kansas
Farm Bureau Women's Committee
chair.
Norris serves on the American
Farm Bureau Women's Leadership
Committee, being elected at the
2003 AFB Annual Meeting.
She has previously served as
Women's Committee Chair for the
KFB 4th District and Sumner
County Farm Bureau. She
has also served as the Sumner
County Farm Bureau president of
the Board, secretary of the
Board and safety chair.
She was the 1990 KFB Leader of
the Year, and in 1996 Norris and
her family won the Sumner County
Farm Bureau Farm Family of the
Year Award. She received the
1995 Sumner County Extension
Council Appreciation Award and
the 1996 Sumner County Fried of
4-H Award. In 1997 she conducted
seminars in Russia about farm
association organization and fun
raising. In 1999 and 2001,
she conducted seminars in
Ukraine about record keeping and
farm management.
Norris continues to work with
Sumner County Farm Bureau. She
is an active member of the
Wellington Church of Christ
which includes teaching Ladies
Bible Class. She and her
husband have worked with the
"Let's Start Talking", teaching
English in Thailand using the
book of Luke.
She attended Oklahoma Christian
College and Kansas State
University, earning a bachelor's
of home economics education and
a master's of Foods Nutrition
from Kansas State University.
Norris and her husband, Thomas,
have three grown children: Marty
Sue, Eric and Lisa. She is
also a proud grandmother of
four.
DISTRICT ONE Jennifer Brunkow - Pottawatomie County Serving since 2008

Hi! I'm Jennifer Brunkow. In 2008 I was elected
District 1 Women's Chair. My husband, Glenn and I farm
and ranch in Pottawatomie county with our two children Isaac
(11) and Tatum (9). We just celebrated our 13th
wedding anniversary in November. I always joke about
how we raise whatever isn't making money that year.
but, we do raise Angus cattle, Crossbred cattle, sell Angus
bulls, wheat, milo, soybeans and hay. I'm a firm
believer that educating the consumer and the youth of
America is what
we as producer have to continually do.
DISTRICT TWO Lois Moss - Johnson County Serving since 2007

Hi, I'm Lois
Moss and I have served on the
State Women's Committee for the
2nd District since 2007.
For 30
years I dedicated myself to
education and the growth of
the upcoming generation.
Now being on the Johnson
County Farm Bureau
Association Board, I have
been very active in all of
their many projects. All of
my life I have enjoyed doing
for others.
My
husband Bob and I run a
small cow/calf herd, Angus
and Hereford, in Johnson
County and in Douglas County
we have our row crops,
soybeans and corn. We
attend numerous workshops on
crops, farm and cattle
management and continually
work toward improving our
operation.
Bob works
as an outside salesperson
for NAPA. This means winter
and summer chores are up to
Bucky, our yellow lab, and
myself during the week.
In my
spare time, I enjoy
traveling, cooking,
gardening and anything new,
creative, and challenging.
Our lives
have been blessed being able
to continue as the 3rd
generation on our family
farm.
DISTRICT THREE Karma Michael - Crawford County Serving since 2008

Karma was elected District 3 Farm Bureau Women's Committee
Chair at the 2008 annual meeting.
Karma currently serves on the Crawford County Farm Bureau
Board as Women's Chair.
Karma graduated from the
University of Kansas Medical Center with a degree in Health
Information Management. She works part-time for the Girard
Medical Center as a coding specialist. Karma also teaches
medical coding classes for Fort Scott Community College.
Besides her involvement with Farm Bureau, Karma is also a
member of the McCune-Girard Young Farm Wives, Secretary of
the McCune Community Center Board, Vice-President of the
McCune Attendance Center PTO, and active with her children
in 4-H. Karma’s family was chosen as the Crawford County
Farm Family of the Year for 2008.
Karma became involved in farming when she married her
husband Jim in 1997. Jim and Karma farm with Jim’s parents
in Crawford County. They have a diversified farm of corn,
wheat, soybeans, and cattle. They also have two daughters,
Morgan (9) and Taylor (6).
DISTRICT FOUR Susan Long - Cowley County Serving Since 2007

Susan Long was elected District 4 Farm
Bureau Women's Committee chair at the 2007 annual meeting.
Susan serves on the Cowley County Farm Bureau Board as Vice
President and Women's Chair.
When Susan gets involved in a project it is with 100%
dedication.
Hands-on activities for women and farmers in general are
projects that especially appeal to Susan. Several projects
including Women’s Only Farm Tour, International School Lunch
Program, Food Check Out Day, Day at the State House, Farm
City Week, Cowley County Fair Booth, century Farms, Annual
County Meeting, Scholarships, Ag Safety Week, Listening
Post, and Issue Surfacing tells how involved Susan is in her
Farm Bureau work.
In addition to Farm Bureau, Susan is involved with her work
and community. Susan has worked for the Farm Service
Agency in Cowley County for over 18 years. She is a member
of Soroptimist, a National women helping women organization
where she just served a 3 year term as
Vice President and was co-chair of the Projects and
Community Committee. She is a member of the local American
Legion Women's Auxiliary. She also serves on the Kansas
Association of Support Employees Board as Past President and
the National Association of Support Employees as President.
Susan is active in her church.
Susan helps her husband Darrell farm in Cowley County; they
raise Wheat, Soybeans, Sunflowers, Milo and vegetables in
the garden. Darrell is a Captain at the Winfield Fire
Department and currently serves on the Valley Coop Board and
is a Trustee and Deacon in his church.
Darrell and Susan have two awesome sons; David and Matthew.
David
travels around the central United States building swimming
pools. Matthew is a Corporal in the United States Marine
Corp and just married in April 2008. He is currently
deployed to Afghanistan. Please keep our service men and
women in your prayers. God Bless America!
DISTRICT FIVE Marilyn Martin - Cloud County Serving since 2006

DISTRICT SIX Brenda Dooley - Jewell County Serving since 2007

DISTRICT SEVEN Marjorie Cartmill - Harper Co. Serving since 2006

I was
elected to the State Women's Committee in 2006. I have
served as the Women's Chair at the county level since
1998 and during that time I served one term as Vice
President and 2 terms as President. I have served the
past nine years as an advisor to the County FSA board
and have recently been elected to a two-year term on the FSA board. I do volunteer work for the Anthony
Ministerial Alliance, served as the chairperson for the
nominating committee for the Harper County Conservation
District and I am very active in the Anthony Assembly of
God church.
My Husband
Dan, who is a retired Hospital Administrator and I have
a cow/calf operation and grow wheat and hay. I
enjoy doing anything outside.
We have
three children, nine grandchildren and two great
grandchildren which we enjoying spoiling.
DISTRICT EIGHT Signe Barnes - Ness County Serving since 1990

Signe Barnes
has been the Ness County Women's Chair for several
years.
The main
project we have participated in has been Food Check-out
Day. We have had displays in the grocery store, sold
bread for .10 a loaf (about the farmers share of wheat
in the loaf), given away gift certificates for groceries
to the needy, contributed to the food bank in the
county, put table tents in several restaurants. I also
gave a presentation to the Rotary club explaining Food
Check-out Day. During Kansas week in January I have
done the Ice Cream in a Bag for school children.
DISTRICT NINE /
VICE CHAIR Gay Beth Moore - Haskell County Serving since 1971

DISTRICT TEN Susan May - Decatur County Serving since 2007

Susan and Roger May farm with Roger's family in Decatur
county, in western Kansas. The May family homesteaded
the land in 1887, and Roger is the fifth generation to farm
this land.
Susan and Roger
are the parents of two wonderful children: Ryan, 12, and
Erin, 6. They are past members of the Young Farmer and
Rancher State Committee, and the winner of the AFBF's YF&R
Achievement Award in 1992. Susan won the Outstanding
Yourg Farm Woman Award. Both Roger and Susan have held
many local offices in the Decatur County Farm Bureau
Association. Susan served on the Public Image Task
Force.
We have a
cow/calf operation and sell certified seed wheat. We
grow wheat, corn, milo, sorgum and hay. Roger
currently serves on the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers
and the Kansas Crop Improvement Association.
Susan is a
teacher, writer, photographer, and gymnastics coach.
She is currently employed by the Insight School of Kansas.
She is active in
community service, 4-H, and church projects. She
currently serves on the Executive Board of Directors for the
Decatur County Extension Service, and on the local Board of
Directors for Sunflower Cinema. Susan enjoys
gardening, reading, and scrapbooking.
Susan graduated
from Fort Hays State University with Summa Cum Laude honors.
She is extremely committed to the promotion of agriculture.
Her favorite quote is "bloom where you are planted."
Board Advisor: Helen Norris (Serves as Chair)
Staff Liaisons: Holly Higgins - Director Serita Blankenship - Program Assistant

Women's Committee
Guide to Programs
Letter from the Chair
Committee Overview
2010 Planning Calendar

An Off-the-Farm Job and the Farm Bureau Women's Committee

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