With respect to any referendum conducted under the provisions of this article, the duly certified commission shall, not less than 30 days before the date of such referendum, publicly announce the date, hours, polling places and rules for voting in the referendum, the amount and basis of the assessment proposed to be collected, the means by which such assessment shall be collected, and the general purposes to which said amount so collected shall be expended and applied. Such notice shall be published by the certified commission through the medium of an established farm publication and written notice thereof shall be given to each county agent in the area covered by the referendum.