Over the last year I have seen a great effort by the FFA, 4-H and other agricultural education associations in raising the visibility and interest in the California Special Interest License Plate for Agriculture (CalAgPlate). This program is a great opportunity to provide consistent funding to agricultural education in California through a portion of fees collected in the annual renewal of license plates.
Students have run creative social media campaigns and videos to generate interest and purchases of CalAgPlates and we should not let this opportunity to support agricultural education pass us by.
In early April, the CalAgPlate initiative will expire and almost two years of recruitment has generated approximately 2,000 registrations. Our goal remains 7,500 CalAgPlates and I know that the agricultural community and our diverse stakeholder base can help step forward to make this goal a reality.
Agricultural education is a vital to our urban and rural communities and provides training, confidence and a connection to farming that no level of consumer marketing could ever achieve. As agriculture looks to get closer to the consumer, we should not abandon the opportunity to support the next generation of farming in our state. I ask for your support of this important program and in reaching our registration goal in the few short months that remain.
Visit CalAgPlate and purchase one today!