The 2024 Farmer of the Year is Janet Webb, president of Big Creek Lumber Company, a role previously held by her father and company co-founder, Lud McCrary, the 1988 Farmer of the Year, who died in August.
The Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau will present the award at the 107th annual meeting at 4 p.m. Saturday, June 15, in a forest meadow at 476 Swanton Road in Davenport. The popular local band, the “Wildcat Mountain Ramblers,” will perform, and the public is invited.
Janet Webb
Webb has been a part of the forestry community in Santa Cruz County since her graduation from Humboldt State University in 1983.
She has been president of Big Creek Lumber since 2009, managing the wholesale division and continuing the company culture of supporting the greater community through nonprofits and educational institutions.
Previously she worked for Big Creek as a registered professional forester.
One of her most notable achievements has been building working relationships, and mutual trust and respect between Big Creek Lumber and local conservation organizations.
This has led to several partnerships and creative approaches to the conservation of the Central Coast’s redwood forests while providing a sustainable resource for the local timber industry.
Through her diligence and building rapport with stakeholders, Webb has shown that responsible timber harvest practices and preserving forests as working lands play an important and beneficial role in ensuring the health, longevity and beauty of the local redwood forests.
She has held seats on several boards, including for the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau, California Redwood Association, and the California Forestry Association (Calforests).
With her husband Steve, she manages a cow-calf operation and ranchlands. The couple has been married since 1985 and share two children, Katie and Dennis, a daughter-in-law, Michelle, and two grandchildren, Andy and June.
Tickets are $100 per person; reservations are required. For reservations, contact the Farm Bureau Office at (831) 724-1356 or e-mail sccfb@sbcglobal.net.
Tickets can be purchased at: www.eventbrite.com.