CFBF Photo Contest - Budding Artists

CFAITC partnered with the California Farm Bureau Federation (CFBF) Photo Contest for a category for ages 13 and younger, who are children of Farm Bureau members, to submit their own photos showcasing California agriculture.

Congratulations photographers!

2012 Winners

First Place
Layton Johnson, 10 years old, Placer County Farm Bureau

The Johnson family is always ready to document life on a working cattle ranch. "The boys take a camera on their saddle and share it back and forth," said mom Janet Turner Johnson. Layton nabbed this image of older brother Lane and two of the family's border collie puppies, which are bred and trained to help gather the Johnsons' herd of Charolais, Hereford and Angus cattle. The family ranches in Northern California and Nevada.

Second Place
Holyn Sylvester, 6 years old, San Luis Obispo County Farm Bureau

Wendy Sylvester says her children enjoy taking care of the 35 laying hens on their farm in San Luis Obispo and entering eggs in the county fair. Holyn Sylvester photographed her younger brother, Jack, then 2, holding one of the family's hens. "Jack always walks around holding her," Wendy Sylvester said of the Belgian d'Uccle Bantam the family nicknamed Christina.

2011 Winners

First Place
Marie T. Simmons, 12 years old, Imperial County Farm Bureau member

Riverside sixth-grader Marie Simmons has been learning about agriculture through classroom study—along with regular visits to her grandfather's Imperial Valley property. "I like the farm because it's such a fun place to be and just to explore," she said. She snapped her first-prize photo during one such visit as her father and grandfather inspected the winter spinach crop. "I had a ton of fun that day."

Second Place
Harry Matthiasson, 13 years old, Napa County Farm Bureau member

Photography can be a dirty job. Just ask Harry Matthiasson. "I had to crawl into the creek bed to get the right angle," he said of this view of a harrow, an antique implement once used to prepare the soil for planting. The eighth-grader enjoys exploring the vineyards around his Napa farm. He also helps harvest and sell peaches, plums and nectarines at farmers markets during the summer.

2010 Winners

First Place
Emily Shepard, 10 years old, Tulare County Farm Bureau

Go ahead. Try not to laugh at 10-year-old Jack Shepard's impish exchange with a pack mule. His cousins accompanying him on a High Sierra trail ride found the challenge overwhelming. "We were doing a contest to see who could try not to laugh the longest," explains photographer Emily Shepard. "He did a funny face and funny noises. We couldn't help it. Everybody laughed."

Second Place
Natalie Del Real, 11 years old, Merced County Farm Bureau

This photo of a neighbor's barn bathed in the soft glow of sunset captures sixth-grader Natalie Del Real's love of her rural life: "Everything's quiet and peaceful, you get to roam around a lot and there's always something interesting to see," says the youngster, who lists softball and piano among her other interests.

2009 Winners

First Prize
Lauren Millang, 11, Yolo County Farm Bureau

Second Prize
Andrew Bettisworth, 12, Santa Clara County Farm Bureau

2008 Winners

First Prize
Lane Johnson, 11, Placer County

Second Prize
Cassidy Campbell Mueller, 13, Yolo County