WHEREAS, Agriculture is the leading employer in the state of Washington; and
     WHEREAS, The voice of agriculture in Washington is Washington Farm Bureau, which today represents farm and ranch families comprising 40,000 members; and
     WHEREAS, Washington Farm Bureau was founded in 1920, the same year that Steve Appel's great-uncle began farming outside Dusty, in Whitman County; and
     WHEREAS, In 1974, after earning his agronomy degree from Washington State University where he met his wife Dianne, Steve Appel began farming with his father, growing wheat and barley on the land where he grew up, and joined Washington Farm Bureau; and
     WHEREAS, In 1994, after 20 years of membership, Steve Appel became president of Washington Farm Bureau, which had 7,000 members at the time; and
     WHEREAS, When Steve Appel stepped down in November 2011, after 17 consecutive years as president, Washington Farm Bureau had grown to 41,000 members, an increase of more than 486 percent without a single membership drive; and
     WHEREAS, In addition to serving longer than any other Washington Farm Bureau president, Steve Appel also served seven years as vice president of the American Farm Bureau Federation and was instrumental in arranging for Seattle to host the federation's 2010 national conference; and
     WHEREAS, During Steve Appel's time as president, Washington Farm Bureau not only grew in membership but became an effective political force that helped improve the business and regulatory climate for farmers across Washington, championed private property rights, moved the state toward finding new water sources, and worked to increase foreign market access;
     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate congratulate Steve Appel, a self-described "dirt farmer from Dusty," for his exemplary leadership of Washington's primary advocate for farm and ranch families, his many contributions to Washington agriculture, and for doing things "the Farm Bureau way."