Helping Farmers, Helping You

HELPING FARMERS, HELPING YOU with Warren Carter

ARFB EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

Arkansas Farm Bureau had more than 170 attendees at the American Farm Bureau’s 101st Annual Convention in Austin in late January. They heard from national leaders (including USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue and President Donald Trump), learned from recognized experts and industry leaders, participated in competitions and spent time with fellow farmers, ranchers and Farm Bureau members from around the country.

Arkansas Farm Bureau was recognized with American Farm Bureau Awards of Excellence in all available categories – Advocacy, Engagement and Outreach, Leadership and Business Development and Membership Value – and it was a tribute to the hard work of staff and volunteers from the county level to the state. We provided support for Arkansas FFA and 4H officers to attend the conference and our Young Farmer & Rancher representatives made their presence felt through outstanding performances in the various competitive events. Matt and Terrie Shekels competed in the Excellence in Ag Award competition, Mark and Shay Morgan made the Top 10 for the American Farm Bureau Achievement Award and Taylor Wiseman made the Sweet 16 in the Discussion Meet.

On the final day of convention, the voting delegates came together to finalize the policies that will guide our organization throughout 2020.

It’s often said that nobody likes to see “how the sausage gets made” in terms of lawmaking in our country, but I can honestly say that the Farm Bureau process I’m privileged to witness at convention is inspiring, even when there’s time-consuming debate. Watching our Arkansas delegates engage with others from around the country and push forward resolutions that originated with our members at the local level is the capstone to a year of hard work by volunteer leaders, staff and our members and it is extremely gratifying.

This year happened to be very successful in terms of Arkansas resolutions being adopted to national policy. Here is a list of issues pushed by the Arkansas delegation that were approved: • Support for allowing producers and livestock haulers ability to complete delivery of their cargo beyond current hours of service. • Support for GPS mapping services designating major commercial routes, to ease pressure on secondary roads caused by “shortest distance” mapping.

• Support for an uncapped agricultural visa program. • Support for applying the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (H2-A workers) at signing to the life of the contract Supporting efforts to harmonize food safety audits to reduce duplication. • A motion restricting federal funds for feral hog eradication to states that limit the take of feral hogs on private land. • Support for a rule that all grain elevators have graders who are certified and licensed to GIPSA standards. • Support for allowing the USDA to hire retired employees on a temporary basis. • Support for allowing USDA providing county personnel based on workload, acreage and number of farms. • Support for dredging the lower Mississippi River for Post-Panamax ships. On top of these resolutions from our state, our delegates backed the adoption of policies that will have an impact on our state’s farmers and ranchers, including farm machinery “right to repair” guidelines, support for an overhaul of national dairy policy, support for new guidelines for synthetic food production, and support for the Market Facilitation Program to help producers hurt by trade disputes.

Nevertheless, as satisfying as it was to see our delegates and our young people succeed and be recognized by their peers and to have our important ideas become official American Farm Bureau policy, all of us who attended the convention left knowing that the work was just beginning.

Now that we have policy, we must turn to action. Our policy teams, our members and our leaders will now work to ensure that these policies aren’t left as words on the pages of a growing book, but instead become laws, rules and guidelines that help our farmers and ranchers thrive and continue to care for their land and animals and provide the food, fiber and shelter we all require. We must also return to our roots – the grassroots – and begin this critical and rewarding process again. We must continue to support and nurture our youth and engage our Young Farmers & Ranchers and Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committees to prepare for future success.

I look forward to the work that lies ahead in 2020 and to seeing it all pay off in 2021 and beyond. •