JACKSON – Farm Bureau’s highest award, the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation Distinguished Service Award, was presented to Commissioner of Agriculture Cindy Hyde-Smith of Brookhaven at the organization’s recent annual meeting in Jackson.

Hyde-Smith has worked closely with Farm Bureau for many years as she was chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee in the Mississippi Senate and also in her role as state commissioner of agriculture.

Nearly 650 Farm Bureau members, representing the state’s 82 county Farm Bureaus, took part earlier this month in the three-day meeting where, in addition to the election of officers and directors, the delegates adopted policy to guide the organization’s efforts during 2014.

Policies relating to national issues will be forwarded to the American Farm Bureau Federation for consideration at its annual meeting, which is scheduled for San Antonio, Texas, in mid-January.

The delegate body identified several areas of interest as priority issues for the upcoming year including protecting animal husbandry practices based on sound science, support controlling the wild hog population, and support maintaining an adequate workforce for agriculture.

Newly elected or re-elected directors on the MFBF Board include Robert McGehee, of Brookhaven, and Bobby Selman, of Monticello.

The Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation is the state’s largest general farm organization with more than 191,000 member-families statewide. There are Farm Bureaus in all 82 counties in Mississippi where agriculture comprises a fundamental part of Mississippi’s economy.

Headquartered in Jackson, the federation is an independent, non-profit agricultural organization and is not associated with any arm of the government. For more information about Farm Bureau, visit our website at www.msfb.org.