Why Become A Napa Farm Bureau Member
As Chief Executive Officer of the oldest and largest industry organization in Napa Valley, I am honored to represent the 1,000+ members of the Napa County Farm Bureau whose families and businesses are an integral part of what makes Napa Valley such an exceptional place to live and work.
I am often asked what makes the Napa County Farm Bureau unique and why someone should be a member. There are many things that make the Farm Bureau unique with everything from our Ag Day, which encourages hundreds of elementary school children to become farmers, to the scholarships we grant to high school seniors who are pursuing a college study of agriculture. We are an organization that not only represents the interests of our current world class farming community, but also one that actively works to develop the next generation of Napa Valley farmers.
However, in order to do this and ensure the protection of our current farmers and the next generation in line to become farmers, we are unique in that we place a chief focus on ensuring that our organization leads on public policy and political issues which impact our membership.
My responsibility in representing our families and businesses means that I have an obligation to ensure that our members are able to productively live and work in an environment where they can prosper and grow. Given that Napa Valley is a world-renowned location, our members routinely have to deal with struggles such as housing, cost of living and often times, the potential of burdensome regulation that negatively impacts our families and businesses and limits their ability to thrive.
In order to truly and effectively represent someone’s interests, it requires leadership. It requires more than simply stopping at stating a position on an issue. It is essential that one significantly advocate by defending and supporting that position to produce the desired outcome. This is where the Napa County Farm Bureau stands out as a leader in the public policy and political arena. Just as no lawyer would stop at simply stating a position and then do nothing to ardently defend it to produce the desired outcome, so too would the Farm Bureau not stop at stating a position without working to produce the result it wants for its membership.
Just recently, we have demonstrated this with recent ballot initiatives, county supervisorial campaigns, our ability to immediately launch a professional political campaign, producing voter guides for members, endorsing political candidates at all levels of government, defending the Williamson Act to the Napa County Grand Jury, defending the Right to Farm ordinance against needless over-regulation and creating a Political Action Committee that significantly backs up our ability to support and oppose local candidates. These are all examples of doing what’s right for our community and our membership instead of passively allowing things to happen that negatively impact our members’ families and businesses.
The definition of advocacy is pleading another’s cause. Anyone can state a position, but it requires the willingness to skillfully back it up in order for someone to benefit from advocacy. This is what makes the Napa County Farm Bureau the public policy and political leader in Napa County.
It is a privilege to represent your families and businesses and be assured that the Napa County Farm Bureau will diligently continue its work on your behalf.
Ryan P. Klobas, JD
Chief Executive Officer
Napa County Farm Bureau
Napa County Farm Bureau Foundation