American Agri-Women ( AAW) presented their highest honor, the Veritas Award, to Texas couple Dan and Margaret Byfield, at their 33rd annual convention in San Antonio, Texas, last week. The Veritas Award is given to individuals who have been public witness to the “pursuit of truth” in accordance with the principles expressed in the AAW statement of philosophy. Of specific interest are personalities of importance to agriculture, or responsible media coverage of agricultural issues and events.
Dan Byfield is president of American Land Foundation. Byfield became involved in property rights issues after graduating from law school and taking a position at the Texas capitol in 1987. He then became a lobbyist for agriculture with the Texas Farm Bureau and later with the Farm Credit Bank of Texas, where the American Land Foundation was founded in 1994. With over 20 years experience fighting for property rights in the Texas and New Mexico legislatures, court houses, and our nation’s capitol, Byfield has challenged the Endangered Species Act all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Margaret Byfield is executive director of Stewards of the Range, a non-profit organization that protects the rights of Americans to own, use and enjoy their private property. She is the daughter of Wayne and Jean Hage and became involved in the property rights movement after her parents filed Hage v. United States in the Federal Court of Claims—a seventeen year long court battle which has resulted in the most significant Fifth Amendment victory for property owners in the past decade. She launched the first office of Stewards of the Range out of her home in Idaho in 1992, and recently moved the headquarters to Texas, which now has over 5000 active members and 15,000 supporters nationwide. She has been involved in many grassroots efforts to stop national anti-property rights proposals, and more recently has helped develop the local strategies program with her husband, Dan, and the president of Stewards, Fred Kelly Grant, that teaches the “coordination” strategy to local leaders, giving them the tools to protect their property and way of life at the local level.
Past Veritas recipients include Paul Harvey, Michael DeBakey, Julia Child, Dr. C. Everett Koop, and Juhn Stossel, to name a few.
For more information, contact Marcie Williams, President, president@americanagriwomen.org, or visit the web site at www.americanagriwomen.org. American Agri-Women is the nation’s largest coalition of farm, ranch and agribusiness women, with 50 state, commodity, agribusiness affiliate organizations and collegiate chapters throughout the country. AAW is a volunteer organization, working to provide true information about agriculture to the public since 1974.