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Farm and ranch families from across the nation donated 34.8 million pounds of food and raised $658,606 to help fight hunger and assist in other community service outreach in 2024 through the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Harvest for All program. Combined, the monetary and food donations totaled the equivalent of 29 million meals.
Criteria for tracking Harvest for All donations included dollars and pounds of food donated by state and county Farm Bureaus, as well as volunteer hours, reported from the grassroots up as part of the annual campaign.
The spirit of farm communities has always been one of working together and giving back. Now in its 23rd year, Harvest for All is spearheaded by members of Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers & Ranchers program, but members of all ages from across the nation contribute to the effort. Their participation helps ensure Americans who are facing food insecurity can enjoy the bounty of food farmers and ranchers produce.
In addition to raising food and funds, farmers and ranchers tallied 24,200 hours for local food insecurity efforts and other community service.
“Young farmers and ranchers and other Farm Bureau members have worked to help provide food to those in need around our country through the Harvest for All campaign for more than two decades,” said Ryan MacKay of Massachusetts, chair of AFBF’s YF&R Committee. “We’re pleased to continue helping to address hunger and put food on the tables of those in need.”
Florida Farm Bureau took top honors for donating the most food, 26 million pounds. This included a variety of volunteer and food donation activities to supplement Farmers Feeding Florida product recovery initiatives.
Illinois Farm Bureau tallied the most volunteer hours, nearly 21,000. Members committed to nourishing their neighbors in need by volunteering at local food banks across the state throughout the year.
Michigan Farm Bureau took top honors for raising the most money, $364,800. A variety of fundraising activities conducted with assistance from the Michigan Farm Bureau family of companies led to this top-notch total.
Thanks to the generosity of Nationwide, these state organizations received a $500 grant for donation to a local food bank of their choice or for another Harvest for All project.
Second-place winners were New York Farm Bureau for 8.4 million pounds of food donated, Michigan Farm Bureau for 2,700 hours of donated volunteer time and Illinois Farm Bureau for $159,265 in donated funds. Each of the second-place winners received a $250 grant from Nationwide to donate to the local food bank of their choice.
‘Most Innovative’ winner
In addition, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau received a $250 grant from Nationwide for “most innovative” program. Members joined forces with the Pennsylvania Youth Livestock Expo to host a “stock the livestock trailer with food” community event and toy donation drive. Outreach about the initiative to members of the non-farming public was conducted though a social media campaign jointly conducted by PFB and PAYLE.
The awards were presented during AFBF’s FUSION Conference, held March 7 to 10 in Denver.
Since Harvest for All was launched, Farm Bureau families have gathered 474 million pounds of food, logged more than 267,000 volunteer hours and raised $12.2 million in donations. In 2023, AFBF earned a prestigious Power of Associations Summit Award from the American Society of Association Executives, in recognition of Harvest for All’s success in addressing hunger in rural America over the past 20-plus years.
