AFBF lauds Orange County Farm Bureau president

By Linda DuBois

Orange County Farm Bureau President Mark Lopez was honored by the American Farm Bureau Federation for the outstanding accomplishments of the Orange County Farm Bureau under his leadership.

“Mark has been a tremendous and dedicated leader for Orange County,” California Farm Bureau President Shannon Douglass said. “This organization is well-known for its support of the community, especially youth in agriculture. We are so glad to have Mark recognized for his many years of service and leadership.”

Lopez, who first became president of the Orange County Farm Bureau in 2017, was among five county Farm Bureau presidents nationwide to be recognized by AFBF President Zippy Duvall in his keynote address during the opening general session at the organization’s annual convention held Sunday in San Antonio, Texas. 

During the speech, Duvall highlighted several of Lopez’s noteworthy achievements. 

Lopez oversaw the greatest period of financial growth for the county Farm Bureau in its 104-year history through the expansion and improvement of nine certified farmers markets under the county’s management. 

The financial success of the farmers markets has allowed the county Farm Bureau to donate more than $3 million to local youth agriculture education programs. It set up several scholarships for university students and Orange County 4-H members, and donated more than $100,000 to county FFA chapters.

“Some of my most rewarding experiences are being able to issue scholarship funds to students who would not have been able to attend college without our assistance,” Lopez said. “When the parents of scholarship recipients come forward to say thank you, it’s an incredible feeling.” He said he also enjoys sharing his knowledge about agriculture with FFA classes.

In addition to leading the Orange County Farm Bureau, Lopez runs Orange County Land Management Service based in Fullerton. There, he sells crop protection supplies and does custom crop applications for vegetable crops throughout the state and manages the planting and growing of strawberries.

“I’m humbled to be honored by Mr. Zippy Duvall,” Lopez said. “With the thousands of people in Farm Bureaus across the country, I was selected. Wow.”

He said this is his first time attending the AFBF convention and that he was
“excited to attend and listen to other farmers and ranchers, share our ups and downs of farming and to listen to other speakers and get a direction on where our industry is heading.”

“Not one to take credit, Mark will be the first person to say nothing he has done has led to success, but rather it’s the people around him who support him that deserve the credit,” said Casey Anderson, Orange County Farm Bureau executive director. “Orange County Farm Bureau is proud to support Mark Lopez and cheer his recognition as an exceptional county president and leader.”

Duvall declared 2024 the Year of the County President to recognize the contributions of county presidents, who are grassroots leaders in the organization. He also meets regularly with county presidents across the country and last year hosted a series of town halls for the agricultural leaders. 

“Our county presidents are the very heartbeat of Farm Bureau,” Duvall said. “They are the ones serving on the front lines of our organization.” 

The other county Farm Bureau presidents honored at the AFBF convention were Joseph Warwas of Texas’ DeWitt County, Megan DeHart of Kentucky’s Mercer County, Heather Mentzer of Kansas’ Allen County and Stewart Ramsey of Delaware’s New Castle County.

(Linda DuBois is assistant editor of California Bountiful magazine. She may be contacted at ldubois@cfbf.com.)