County Farm Bureaus boost membership in 2012
WACO, Texas—County Farm Bureaus across the state were recognized for membership achievements in a number of categories during the Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) 79th annual meeting Dec. 2 at the Waco Convention Center.
“This was another great year for Texas Farm Bureau membership, thanks to the efforts of our county Farm Bureaus,” said TFB President Kenneth Dierschke. “The value of Farm Bureau begins at the local level. Our county leaders’ passion for agriculture and rural Texas has attracted new members across the state.”
Statewide, Farm Bureau membership showed a gain of 14,363 for a total of 483,887 member families. Of the 206 organized county Farm Bureaus, 187 recorded a membership gain this year.
County Farm Bureaus signing the most new members included the following: Collin County, 2,369; Jefferson County, 1,681; Fort Bend County, 1,667; Brazoria-Galveston County, 1,631; Ellis County, 1,255; Harris County, 1,253; McLennan County, 1,171; Kaufman County, 996; Johnson County, 991; and Bell County, 933.
County Farm Bureaus reporting the largest total membership gain included the following: Jefferson County, 683; Collin County, 651; Brazoria-Galveston County, 616; Fort Bend County, 509; Johnson County, 501; Kaufman County, 396; Nueces County, 377; Ellis County, 331; McLennan County, 313; and Gregg County, 287.
The highest membership renewal percentages were achieved by the following: Cochran County, 96.10 percent; Wilson County, 95.41 percent; Martin County, 94.10 percent; Coke-Sterling County, 93.85 percent; Mason County, 93.79 percent; Sherman County, 93.72 percent; Gillespie County, 93.47 percent; Fayette County, 93.26 percent; Collingsworth County, 93.24 percent; and Medina County, 93.14 percent.
County Farm Bureaus with the largest membership include: Collin County, 13,496; Brazoria-Galveston County, 10,168; Fort Bend County, 9,788; Jefferson County, 9,699; Harris County, 7,852; Ellis County, 7,673; McLennan County, 7,030; Bell County, 6,555; Kaufman County, 6,404; and Bexar County, 6,382.
County Farm Bureaus with the longest continuous gain in membership include: DeWitt County, 63 years; Franklin County, 32 years; Erath County, 26 years; Live Oak County, 26 years; Henderson County, 23 years; Atascosa, Bell, Blanco, Comal, Gillespie, Hill, Medina, Navarro and Tyler counties, each with 21 years; and Burnet, Collin, Harrison, Kaufman and Sabine counties, each with 20 years.