[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 183 (Tuesday, December 8, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2903]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING FRED MACHADO

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GEORGE RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 8, 2009

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend and 
congratulate Fred Machado upon being named the ``2009 Agriculturist of 
the Year'' by the Greater Fresno Area Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Machado 
will be recognized at the annual Agricultural Awards luncheon on 
November 18, 2009 in Fresno, California.
  In 1932, Mr. Fred Machado was born in the Azores region of Portugal. 
At the age of sixteen he migrated to the United States with his family. 
When he arrived in the U.S. he began working as a farm laborer doing 
jobs that included milking cows for two hundred and fifty dollars a 
month. He enjoyed the work and took to the dairy industry quickly, but 
decided to join the United States Navy. In 1955, after leaving the Navy 
he had saved enough money to purchase a twenty-acre plot in Easton, 
just west of Fresno, California. During the 1950's, Mr. Machado 
established a dairy with fifty cows, the company grew, quickly reaching 
fifteen hundred heifers.
  Over the years, Mr. Machado's land increased from twenty-acres to an 
eight hundred-acre farming operation that produces almonds, grapes, 
orchards and feed crops. Until this year the farm also included the 
dairy, however with unprecedented low prices for milk, the Machado 
family decided to retire from the dairy business.
  Mr. Machado is a very active member of the community. He has served 
on the boards of the National Milk Producers Federation, Challenge 
Dairy, Danish Creamery and numerous community organizations. Mr. 
Machado has been active with the Fresno County Farm Bureau for over 
fifty years, serving in multiple leadership positions including serving 
as the Eastern Center Co-Chairman, and as president from 1972-1974.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend and congratulate Frank Machado 
upon being named the ``2009 Agriculturist of the Year.'' I invite my 
colleagues to join me in wishing Mr. Machado many years of continued 
success.

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