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“IN HONOR OF WILLIAM FRANK McFARLANE” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E903 on May 30, 2012.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
IN HONOR OF WILLIAM FRANK McFARLANE
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HON. DEVIN NUNES
of california
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Mr. NUNES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor William Frank McFarlane, who passed away on Tuesday, May 15, 2012. Mr. McFarlane was a pillar of the California agricultural community.
Bill McFarlane was born in Fresno, California, on January 1, 1926, and grew up on a farm in Clovis. He attended Jefferson Elementary School and Clovis Union High School. While at California State University, Fresno, Bill transferred to the University of Southern California, earning Bachelor of Science degrees in Naval Science and Business Administration.
At a young age, Bill began his successful career in agriculture. He and his parents formed a partnership in 1948, McFarlane and McFarlane, growing Muscat grapes for raisins and wine, cotton, grain, plums, vegetable and flower seeds, almonds, citrus, and rice. While many other achievements would follow in his long career, Bill always remained a farmer at heart.
A tireless supporter of other farmers in the San Joaquin Valley, Bill was a member of the Sun-Maid Raisin Growers Advisory Council; president of Clovis-Sanger Cooperative Gin; joined the board of Calcot, Ltd. in 1955 and was chairman of that organization from 1966 to 1974; served as president of California Cotton Growers Association; a member of the Producers Steering Committee of the National Cotton Council; a director of the Western Cotton Growers Association; the founding president of Central California Almond Growers Association and served on the board of Blue Diamond Growers for 17 years, 4 years as chairman.
Bill was a principal of the family-farming group Cinco Farms; served as president of California Westside Farmers for 8 years; a chairman of Farm-Water Alliance for 6 years, whose effort culminated in the signing into law of the federal Reclamation Reform Act of 1982. Bill was also a member of the board of Westlands Water District, and served on the board of the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture during the 8 years of the Reagan Administration. In 1967, he became a director of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, as well as the Agricultural Council of California, becoming chairman of the council and was awarded their Co-Op Farmer of the Year Award in 1994.
Bill received the 1994 Agriculturalist of the Year Award at the California State Fair, and in 2000 the Greater Fresno Area Chamber of Commerce Agriculturist of the Year Award. After serving for 14 years on the board of the California State University, Fresno, Agricultural Foundation, Bill's final expression of his love for agriculture was his commitment to Friends of Agricultural Extension, reflecting his belief in the public value of university agricultural research.
While his commitment to the San Joaquin Valley agricultural community was unmatched, Bill's commitment to education was equally impressive. He was a member of the Jefferson Union Elementary governing board; a charter member of the Clovis Unified School District board; a founding member of the board of directors of the Foundation for Clovis Schools; and a member of the Reagan Educational Center Agriculture Department Advisory Committee. Bill was particularly proud when Clovis Unified School District honored him by naming the McFarlane-Coffman Agricultural Center after him.
Bill McFarlane's legacy to his friends, family, colleagues, and countless numbers of students will be remembered for generations to come. The San Joaquin Valley has been blessed with many people whose commitment to the valley has made it the greatest agricultural region in the world. Among these people, Bill was one of the greats.
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