Rural Route

Rural Route wisconsin Farm bureau federation’s

october | november 2010 • vol. 16 no. 5 | www.wfbf.com

Welcome to Your

New Rural Route

VFA® Endorses

Scott Walker for Governor Pa g e 3

Congress Mulls Estate Taxes Dairy Price Forum Wrap Up Annual Meeting Set for December

Take Control of Your Financial Future

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The guarantees expressed are based in the claims-paying ability of Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company.

Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company/West Des Moines, IA. © 2010 FBL Financial Group, Inc. A123 (10-10)

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Rural Mutual Insurance Company

contents

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14 21

4 Features

Every Issue

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News

10

Opinion

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State Issues

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National Issues

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Member Benefits

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Leadership

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Ag in the Classroom

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Foundation

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Rural Mutual

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VFA速 Endorses Scott Walker for Governor Dairy Price Forum Examines Policy Overhaul

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Congress Needs to Address Estate Tax

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Attend 91st Annual Meeting This December

october | november 2010

Columns

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Roger Cliff

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Chris Chinn

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John Hart

11

Bill Bruins

www.wfbf.com

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A Message from roger cliff By now you’ve noticed something is different.

We at Farm Bureau hope you enjoy this first issue of the Rural Route as a magazine. That’s right, same name, only a different format.

Earlier this year we decided to revamp the way we get our messages out and that included trading Rural Route’s newspaper format to a glossy magazine. Other changes include a different look for our 2010 Annual Report and a makeover for the newsletters that we produce through the County Farm Bureau Services Program. By the time our Annual Meeting takes place at the Kalahari Resort, December 4-6, we hope to have a new and improved website up and running.

In a way, these changes are like what happens on the farms of our members. There’s always an air of excitement over the bells and whistles that new tractors and equipment bring. Yet, the mission of growing crops and raising livestock is not much different than that of our ancestors.

Such is the case with these changes here at Farm Bureau. We want to continue to be a voice for farmers while delivering our vision for the future. The best way to do this is by making changes that presents information in a more accessible and attractive manner. So while the equipment may have new bells and whistles, our mission has not wavered.

Once again, we hope you like the new Rural Route. As always, please let us know how we are doing.

Best regards,

Rural Route wisconsin Farm bureau federation’s

Editor Casey Langan 608.828.5711 Assistant Editor Sheri Sutton 608.828.5706 Address of Publication Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation 1241 John Q. Hammons Dr. PO Box 5550 Madison, WI 53705-0550 Postmaster: Send address changes to Farm Bureau’s Rural Route PO Box 5550 Madison, WI 53705-0550 Contact Information 608.836.5575 800.261.FARM (3276) www.wfbf.com info.demingway@wfbf.com WFBF Board of Directors Bill Bruins, Waupun, (President) Richard Gorder, Mineral Point, (Vice President) Dave Daniels, Union Grove Jerry Bradley, Sun Prairie Gary Steiner, Mondovi Lloyd DeRuyter, Cedar Grove Wayne Staidl, Peshtigo Don Radtke, Merrill Jim Holte, Elk Mound Women’s Committee Chairwoman Rosie Lisowe, Chilton Young Farmer & Agriculturist Committee Chairman Rick Roden, West Bend

Roger Cliff Chief Administrative Officer Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation

Farm Bureau’s® Rural Route (ISSN 39940) (USPS 10821368), the official publication of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, is published six times per year in February/March, April/May, June/July, August/ September, October/November and December/January.

Subscription of $5 is included in Farm Bureau dues.

Periodical postage is paid at Madison, Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation’s Rural Route is produced for the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation

by Kennedy Communications, LTD., 9 Odana Court, Suite 200, Madison, WI 53711, 608.288.9000. All rights reserved. No portion of this magazine may be reproduced in whole or part without written consent.

For advertising rates and information, please contact Annie Mares at 608.288.9000 ext. 106 or amares@ kennedyc.com.

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wisconsin farm bureau federation

news

Scott Walker and WFBF President Bill Bruins at a recent meet-and-greet at the Jerry Bradley farm in Sun Prairie.

Committee. “At a time when families and our state government are both facing challenging fiscal times, Scott Walker is well-suited to tackle our state budget.

These qualities put him ahead of the other candidates we interviewed.”

Volunteers for Agriculture®

Endorse Scott Walker for Wisconsin’s Next Governor

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cott Walker has the endorsement of the Volunteers for Agriculture® (VFA) in his race to become Wisconsin’s next governor.

The VFA is the political action arm of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation. Scott Walker is the Milwaukee County Executive and former state assemblyman who is running for governor in the November 2 general election.

“I am proud to have the endorsement of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau and I thank farmers from across our state for their support,” said Walker. “Agriculture will play a large role in getting Wisconsin back to work. By getting government out of the way to allow our farmers to thrive, we can october | november 2010

ensure another generation will continue this proud Wisconsin tradition.”

“Scott Walker is the kind of practical, common-sense statesman that can reestablish fiscal responsibility to our state government,” said Bill Bruins, Fond du Lac dairy farmer and Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation President. “Walker will lead our state out of economic uncertainty by developing a positive business climate for agriculture and other Wisconsin businesses.”

“Scott Walker has a strong leadership style and displays an ability to work with those on both sides of the political aisle,” said Cal Dalton, a Columbia County corn, soybean and beef farmer who chairs the Farm Bureau’s Volunteers for Agriculture

The VFA committee interviewed Scott Walker, as well as Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (Democrat) and former congressman and business owner Mark Neumann (Republican) before making their endorsement. The Volunteers for Agriculture Committee is comprised of 18 farmers from across the state. The Volunteers for Agriculture was formed to give farmers a more direct role in electing leaders who best represent agriculture’s interests.

Scott Walker announced his plans to strengthen Wisconsin agriculture at a meet-and-greet at the Jerry Bradley farm in Sun Prairie on September 7. While there he said he supports tax incentives aimed at modernizing farms and making improvements to Wisconsin’s Right to Farm law, and opposes any efforts to weaken Wisconsin’s use value assessment law.

“We will also work to lower taxes and regulations across the board, so that farms can continue to create jobs and help our economy,” Walker said.

For more information on Walker’s plans for agriculture, see www.scottwalker.org/issues/ agriculture. www.wfbf.com

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news

Dairy Price Forum Examines Policy Overhaul

By Casey Langan

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Photo Courtesy of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board

obody raised their hand.

Jerry Kozak had just asked a crowd of nearly 200 to raise their hands if they thought the current dairy price structure was working.

“I think we can all collectively agree its time for a change and that we have to stop looking at band-aid solutions,” the President and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) told attendees of the Dairy Price Forum, hosted jointly by the Wisconsin Farm Bureau and the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells, August 18.

Kozak was there to discuss NMPF’s Foundation for the Future proposal that would replace the federal dairy support program (which has become an ineffective safety net) with a new margin protection program to directly assist dairy farmers. The plan also calls for reforms to the Federal Milk Marketing Order system and addresses catastrophic market imbalances with a Dairy Market Stabilization Program.

“We’re not going to take volatility out of the market,” said Kozak, who advocates for moderating the extreme price swings dairy has seen in recent years.

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The Foundation for the Future plan calls for the elimination of the federal Dairy Product Price Support Program and Milk Income Loss Contract which Kozak said reduces demand for U.S. dairy products, dampens the ability to export while encouraging more foreign imports, acts as a disincentive to product innovation, and supports foreign dairy farmers at the expense of U.S. dairy farmers.

Kozak said dairy policy must focus less on price and more on margins through a Dairy Producer Margin Protection Program (DPMPP) that addresses catastrophic conditions and persistent periods of low margins, each of which can result in severe loss of equity on dairy farms.

Foremost Farms President Dave Furhman, a panelist at the forum, said this type of focus on margins would have been beneficial when cattle feed and milk prices were both high in 2008.

“We think this is going to enhance the industry. Long-term growth won’t come from within the U.S. if we can’t be a consistent exporter,” said Furhman, who noted the U.S. opts out of the world market when price supports kick in.

The current and future role of globalization of the dairy market was a key message delivered by Tom Suber. As President of the U.S.

wisconsin farm bureau federation

what they said...

Dairy Export Council, Suber discussed the potential of the export market and how U.S. dairy can expand its reach.

treats a farmer the same way, despite size and location. It’s time we address this.”

“World dairy demand will grow faster than supply, resulting in global imbalances that will drive volatility,” he said while sharing findings of a report from the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy.

The DPMPP provides two levels of coverage. A base plan that comes at no cost to farmers and a supplemental plan that allows the purchase of additional coverage. It will not cover production beyond the milk base and margin guarantees are fixed for the duration of the farm bill.

Maintaining status quo will likely result in a weakened U.S. dairy industry, he noted before offering that the U.S. dairy industry has a finite window of opportunity (until the mid-2020s) to move to higher levels before emerging suppliers arrive on the scene. Suber said the U.S. is not set up to accommodate a global market due to existing policy constraints.

WFBF President Bill Bruins said, “Coupled with margin insurance, the National Milk proposal to get rid of price supports and stop the government from buying product would allow our dairy industry to become a reliable supplier to the world marketplace.”

In addition to how the margin insurance concept would work, another part of the plan that also garnered considerable discussion was the market stabilization program. This essentially is the supply management component of the plan.

“Much of the discussion was on if this would make a big enough difference,” Bruins said.

A potentially sticky point to the Foundation for the Future plan was that the DPMPP would not have payment limitations based on income or size of the dairy herd (milk production) because it’s insurance and not an entitlement or hand-out.

“Why would we impose payment limitations,” Kozak asked the crowd before adding, “The most destructive issue we have among farmers is no longer regional differences. It’s big versus small. We need a system that october | november 2010

“This is our perfect storm to work together because we have to.”

Linda Hodorff Fond du Lac County dairy farmer

Kozak thanked the American Farm Bureau Federation for having open dialog about his organization’s plan.

Mary Kay Thatcher, director of AFBF’s agriculture policy team was in attendance at the Dairy Price Forum.

Dr. Bob Cropp, professor emeritus from UW-Madison’s Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, gave an update on the work of the USDA’s Dairy Industry Advisory Committee. Cropp had served as an advisor to committee member, Wisconsin Agriculture Secretary Rod Nilsestuen, who was originally scheduled to be at Forum before his untimely death by drowning in Lake Superior in July.

Shelly Mayer, a dairy farmer and Executive Director of the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin listed three things for the dairy industry to thrive: be transitional by welcoming the next generation of farmers and enthusiastic consumers, be a financiallyfit industry, and be socially acceptable by educating all stakeholders, from farmers to consumers.

For more information on the Foundation for the Future plan, see www.nationalmilk.org.

To view PowerPoint presentations from the Forum, visit www.wfbf.com.

“As a package it’s an incredible advancement.”

Dave Fuhrman President, Foremost Farm

“I’m not sure this proposal I’ve seen today answers all of my questions.”

Mel Pittman Pierce County dairy farmer

“The system cannot go on unchanged. I want my kids to follow in their daddy’s boots.”

Miranda Leis Monroe County dairy farmer

www.wfbf.com

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news

Meet Board Member:

Dave Daniels

By Sheri Sutton

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wo Farm Bureau members visited Dave Daniels’ farm in the early 1980s on a membership drive and convinced him to join. He has proven to be an asset to the organization ever since. Today, Dave represents the eight southeastern counties that make up ‘District 1’ on the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation’s Board of Directors.

Dave grew up on his family’s dairy farm near Union Grove in Kenosha County. His grandfather, Max, originally purchased the dairy in 1933 and his parents, Carl and Shirley, took over in 1956. The oldest of six siblings, Dave came home to farm with his father after graduating with a dairy science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Soon after, Dave married Kim and they had their two children: Tara and Maxx.

Back in 1933 Grandpa Max milked 24 head and owned 80 acres. Today Dave milks 520 head and owns 275 acres.

In addition to numerous expansions of cattle and acreage, Dave also opted to rename and reorganize the operation in the 1990s.

That change resulted from an idea he shared with friends Gene Weis and Myron Daniels (not related). Each had fathers who were retiring from dairying. Each wanted to continue farming but did not want to be tied to their farms, and each shared concerns over what might happen to their farms when they retired someday.

In 1997 they merged and formed a partnership called Mighty Grand Dairy (which borrows an initial from each of their names) where each owns equal shares of a farm and focuses on their area of expertise. Gene heads up the crop work and heifers on his home farm, Myron is in charge of the repair work and heifers on his home farm, and Dave oversees the milking and employee relations.

Dave enjoys the partnership because of the shared work load, the specialization of the farm, and the ability to get off the farm for vacations and meetings. He loves farming because he is an owner in the operation and gets to be involved in the decision making that ultimately provides a living for his family.

He credits his participation in the Wisconsin Rural Leadership 6

Rural Route

Program (now called Leadership Wisconsin) with the motivation to get involved in areas he feels are important. He is active in his local Catholic church, serves on the Kenosha County Land and Water Resource Committee, represents the WFBF’s Board of Directors on the U.S. Dairy Export Council, and was recently appointed to the Wisconsin 4-H Foundation Board. After years of involvement in Morning Glory’s young farmer program, he is now a delegate for Foremost Farms. He encourages Farm Bureau members to “look for opportunities to expand not only your farming venture, but to expand other avenues of your life.”

Thankfully he also plans to be involved in Farm Bureau for years to come.

“We are the organization that speaks out for all sides of agriculture, whether it be small or large, beef, corn or other commodities, we represent them all,” Daniels said.

wisconsin farm bureau federation

news

‘Agvocate’ Chris Chinn

One of many young farmers to network with at YFA Conference, December 3-5

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or Chris Chinn, reaching out to consumers through social media is just one of her many daily chores at her family’s hog farm. Whether it is Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, the fifth-generation farmer figures she spends about 20 minutes per day reaching out to consumers from New York to Los Angeles from the computer on her farm in Shelby County, Missouri.

“My main goal is to talk to people,” Chinn said during a recent telephone interview.

Chinn will share her story of why she made it her mission to tell agriculture’s story during the Young Farmer & Agriculturist Conference, December 4 at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells. Chinn is one of three featured speakers during that morning’s breakout sessions.

As Shelby County Farm Bureau secretary, and chair of her county’s Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee, she’s not that much different than her peers that will come to see her speak. She and her husband, Kevin, are both fifth generation farmers who with the help of her father raise about 1,500 sows in northeast Missouri.

She’d be the first to tell you she has no formal background in the communications world, and while she likes computers she says she wasn’t fascinated by social media. october | november 2010

Yet, if their children are going to have a future in the hog business, she felt the need to educate the general public about what goes on at their farm.

Reaching consumers through social media is a quicker way to reach the masses than farm tours, where biosecurity would be a concern on a hog farm, she says.

Chris says her husband would rather be working on their farm, than working behind or in front of a camera. So it took some arm-twisting to get him to film her first YouTube video.

“I thought it was a waste of time at first,” she said of Twitter, which she eventually agreed to try for a few months after a good friend “nagged” her long enough. She says it paid off during the H1N1 hype in 2009.

Chinn and a group of farmers from across the country worked Twitter in order to help consumers understand which name to use when talking about the flu. She says she received many positive follow-up comments from consumers who never considered the damage that the term “swine flu” was having to the economic plight of family farmers.

This December she’s likely to tell YFA members the story of how during the first half of 2010 her video tagged “Truth about Modern Pork Production” was flagged as “inappropriate material” on YouTube.

Real life connections are what her work on social media is about.

“I was upset,” she said of the strategy used by animal rights activists. “Our kids are in that video.”

Chinn helps tell fellow farmers the importance of having the science to back up your claims, but also talking from the heart.

“I felt like I was being censored,” said Chinn, who was equally disappointed that hard-to-watch videos where depictions of animal abuse are shown are not flagged as inappropriate.

“They want to hear from us, not just as producers of food, but as fellow consumers,” she said.

She’s also likely to tell some of the success stories, like how she changed attitudes via Twitter.

“My key message is that we care as farmers,” she said.

To hear directly from Chinn and other engaging speakers, register for the 2010 Young Farmer & Agriculturist Conference by contacting Dale Beaty at 608.828.5714 or dbeaty.fbcenter@wfbf.com.

www.wfbf.com

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news

Meet Farm Bureau Member: Tom

Oberhaus

By Sheri Sutton

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arming in Waukesha County often means there is little available land to expand a farm. Yet Tom Oberhaus and his family have found a way to creatively expand from within to earn a profit.

Born and raised on an Ohio cash grain operation, Tom graduated from Ohio State University with a degree in dairy science before working as an AI sire analyst, where he traveled the world working with dairies.

Tom married Joan Wendt and in 1985 they came back to work on Joan’s family’s Cozy Nook Farm outside of Waukesha. When her parents, Jim and Kathy Wendt, retired in 1991, Tom and Joan took over the operation with their son Charlie.

The heart of their farm remains their herd of 65 registered Brown Swiss and Guernsey cows. Yet over the years, they have been creative with approaches to expand with the 175 acres they have, including raising over 50 different varieties of pumpkins, gourds, squash and Indian corn on 30 acres. On a nice autumn afternoon their farm’s driveway and front yard resemble a parking lot as their annual Fall Market attracts hundreds of Waukesha County residents and tourists.

Building upon the Fall Market’s good reputation, the Oberhaus’ started selling Wisconsin Christmas trees at their farm and now sell over 1,300 trees annually.

“There are a lot of ways to skin a cat, now I’m obviously not talking about really skinning a cat, but there are a lot of ways to make it in the agricultural business,” he said.

“What works for one person does not work for another. You do what works for you.”

When hosting the public on their farm, the Oberhaus’ take the opportunity to educate and share positive messages about agriculture. Every fall, over 1,000 kids and many parents take a field trip to tour the Oberhaus’ farm where they see calves, learn 8

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“

Farm Bureau’s legislative side is extremely important because we need to let the legislators know what our needs and concerns are...

about how a cow is milked, feed hay to the heifers, see the crops in the field, and more.

Off the farm, Tom has taken on several leadership roles. He is a director on the Waukesha County Farm Bureau and Frontier FS boards, the Vice President of the National Brown Swiss Association and chairman of his local planning commission.

Tom is also involved with the Waukesha County Dairy Committee, his local church and area 4-H programs.

On top of it all, Tom has started a handson project with urban children in Waukesha County. Currently, he has 16 teenagers from non-farm backgrounds that pick a heifer on his farm and come throughout the year to work with her. Tom teaches them how to feed, clip, and raise their calf before showing it at the Waukesha County Fair and other shows around Wisconsin. Ten of them traveled with Tom’s son Charlie to Louisville, Kentucky to compete at a national show. The Oberhaus’ have seen kids with no dairy or farm background go through this informal program on their farm

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and come out wanting to pursue degrees in dairy science and other agricultural programs.

Tom also values the experiences he’s been offered as an active Farm Bureau member since the late 1980s: From sitting in the chairs of the State Assembly chambers in the State Capitol as a Young Farmer debating issues with his fellow Farm Bureau members, to educating fourth graders in elementary schools as part of Waukesha County’s Ag in the Classroom program.

“Farm Bureau’s legislative side is extremely important because we need to let the legislators know what our needs and concerns are,” he said. “We also need to promote the positives of agriculture and continue to portray this to kids because some of those kids will sit in the Legislature in the future and maybe something we said back then will help us out.”

You can see learn more about Tom and Cozy Nook Farm at their website: www. cozynookfarms.com.

wisconsin farm bureau federation

news

Welcome Sheri Sutton to the Farm Bureau Team

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heri (Nelson) Sutton is the newest staff member for the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation.

middle and high school agricultural students for the National FFA organization. She also started her own non-profit called, WaterDrops of Hope, which raises funds to provide water in Third World nations through the sale of reusable water bottles.

Sheri began her duties with the Farm Bureau on August 16 and can be reached at ssutton.fbcenter@wfbf.com.

“It is an honor to continue my passion for agriculture with the strong voice of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation. I am excited to help serve the Farm Bureau’s members and ensure their voices are heard.”

As Communications Coordinator, the Walworth County native and recent University of Wisconsin graduate will be responsible for writing, editing and designing content for county and state Farm Bureau publications, promotional materials, website and social media.

Married in September, the former Sheri Nelson was raised on her family’s crop and hog farm near East Troy before graduating from the UW-Madison last December with a Bachelor of Science degree in life sciences communication.

“It is an honor to continue my passion for agriculture with the strong voice of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation. I am excited to help serve the Farm Bureau’s members and ensure their voices are heard,” she said.

“Sheri’s agricultural background, strong organization and writing skills, and passion for educating others makes her uniquely qualified to help us deliver Farm Bureau’s message to members and consumers,” remarked Paul Zimmerman, Wisconsin Farm Bureau’s Executive Director of Public Affairs.

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As a 4-H member, she showed hogs and poultry at the Walworth County Fair. Sheri served as a vice president of the Wisconsin State FFA in 2005-06 and was selected as the 41st Wisconsin Fairest of the Fairs in 2007. In 2010 she was a finalist for Alice in Dairyland.

Sheri’s previous work experience includes coordinating the internship program for the Food Export Association of the Midwest and facilitating national leadership workshops for october | november 2010

5670 Green Bay Road • Kenosha, WI 53144 262.657.1210 • www.dejnos.com

farm ranch connection.indd 1

www.wfbf.com

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3/22/10 1:38 PM

opinion

Animals Don’t Have Rights, but Humans Do Have Duties

By John Hart

In a 1986 interview with Washingtonian magazine, Ingrid Newkirk, the founder and still president of the People of Ethical Treatment of Animals, made a provocative statement that continues to be noticed today.

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hen asked if animals should be used in research to help humans, she replied: “Animal liberationists do not separate out the human animal, so there is no rational basis for saying that a human being has special rights. A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. They are all mammals.”

A Rat is A Pig Is A Dog Is A Boy Over the past thirty years, as Wesley J. Smith details in his latest book, the concept of animal rights has been seeping into the very bone marrow of Western culture.

From this provocative statement comes the title of Wesley J. Smith’s new book “A Rat Is A Pig Is A Dog Is A Boy.” In this exceptional book, published earlier this year, Smith makes the strong case that the animal rights movement is actually an antihuman ideology. In essence, Newkirk and other proponents of animal rights believe humans and animals have the same moral value; they are equals.

In an interview earlier this year, Smith said: “Animal rights, properly understood, is a rigid belief system that says people have no right to domesticate animals, because what matters most in terms of moral value is the ability to feel pain and suffer.

Hence, cattle ranching is as odious as human slavery. And that needs to be rejected, because it would cause tremendous human harm if it were ever adopted throughout society.”

At its core, extreme animal rights

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ideology is opposed to medical animal research and the use of animals for food, both of which deliver value and improve the lives of people. Many animal rights activists equate meat with murder, even though the term is formally defined as the killing of a human being.

An overriding theme of Smith’s book is that humans are clearly different than animals.

“We as humans—and we alone— have moral agency, which means that we have not only rights, but also duties,” Smith writes in his book.

Because humans are the only species with a sense of morality, only humans have rights. But with these rights come responsibilities: the duty to properly care for animals. This is a duty America’s farmers and ranchers take seriously. They care deeply about the health, well-being and safety of their animals and work hard to ensure their animal’s well being through proper management and shelter.

Farmers and ranchers rely on superior animal welfare practices to ensure the production of high-quality, safe and wholesome meat, milk and eggs. This is a seven-day-a-week, 52-weeks-ayear job. Farmers and ranchers

take this duty seriously because it is a requirement for staying in business.

Moreover, they are committed to improving the lives of people.

Today’s production practices mean that meat is high-quality, readily available and affordable to everyone—a concept that would have been unfathomable to previous generations. Today, even during these difficult economic times, meat is affordable to all.

Their lives are better, and their standard of living increases.

It all boils down to choice.

Animal rights activists seek to limit the choice of people by equating the rights of animals to those of humans. If animal rights extremists were to get their way and end both beneficial medical animal research and meat consumption, the quality of human life on our planet would surely plummet.

Rats, pigs and dogs are not human. While farmers and ranchers understand their moral duty to provide farm animals humane care, they also answer to a similar high calling to produce animal-based food for their fellow man.

John Hart is director of news services for the American Farm Bureau Federation.

wisconsin farm bureau federation

opinion

It’s Decision Time A message from WFBF President Bill Bruins

Notice of Annual Meeting of Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, Cooperative In accordance with the bylaws and pursuant to the direction of the Board of Directors, the undersigned President hereby gives notice that the Annual Meeting of members of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, Cooperative, will convene on Monday, December 6, 2010 at 10:30 a.m. in the Kalahari Resort, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.

Bill Bruins, President

Notice of Annual Meeting of Rural Mutual Insurance Company In accordance with the bylaws and pursuant to the direction of the Board of Directors, the undersigned President hereby gives notice that the Annual Meeting of members of Rural Mutual Insurance Company will convene on Monday, December 6, 2010 at 10:30 a.m. in the Kalahari Resort, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.

Bill Bruins, President

I

t seems every two years we hear that THIS could be the most pivotal election in a generation. You know what? This year it actually is true.

For the first time since the 1980s the race for governor is without an incumbent. Likewise, voters in Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District will not be sending an incumbent to Congress for the first time since the Vietnam War. Finally, an unusually high number of retirements from the State Legislature will guarantee many new faces in Madison next year. It all means election 2010 is going to be one for the record books.

Aside from the horse race nature of tracking who’s up and who’s down, I’m among those who feel that this election’s outcome has much higher stakes than the fates of individual candidates and party control. I believe the long-term direction and fate of our state and nation is in play. The very high stakes of this election’s outcome will either further define the path we currently find ourselves on, or reverse the collective focus back to smaller government, lower taxes, capitalism and personal responsibility.

As farmers we often find it easy to embrace the mantra of smaller government, lower taxes, capitalism and personal responsibility, but this year we need to be ready to do our part after the election is over.

That means that at a time in our history when all levels of government are swimming in red ink, we need to realize that shrinking government and paying lower taxes also means foregoing services and farm programs that perhaps we’ve come to take for granted. If we say we want to quit borrowing from our grandkids and stop the runaway spending, then we need to back that up with sacrifice.

Clearly, the candidates running for state and national office in the November election offer us a choice. More of the same, or a shift back to the basics of what our founding fathers envisioned.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The most important thing that you do as a farmer on November 2 is to vote. The future direction of this country is in your hands. It’s decision time.

october | november 2010

www.wfbf.com

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wisconsin farm bureau federation

state news

T

he Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation wants to make sure hunters and rural landowners are aware of Wisconsin’s trespass law for this fall’s hunting seasons.

“Good communications between hunters and rural landowners can help ensure a safe and enjoyable hunting season,” said Paul Zimmerman, Farm Bureau’s Executive Director of Public Affairs.

“Wisconsin’s trespass law states that you must have permission to hunt on someone’s land,” Zimmerman explained. “Some people still think that landowners must post a sign to prevent hunting on their land, but that law was changed in 1995. Today, you simply must have written or verbal permission to hunt on someone’s land.”

“If landowners are having issues with trespassers, they are to call their county sheriff ’s office,” Zimmerman said. “DNR wardens are not the primary enforcement of the trespass law.”

Hunters, Landowners

must head

Trespass law october | november 2010

The one exception to the trespass law (primarily found in northern Wisconsin) is the case of inholdings, which is private land that is surrounded by public land. In that situation, a landowner must post a sign to prevent hunting by the public.

“The role of the hunter is very important, as they are the primary tool that we have to manage our state’s deer herd,” Zimmerman said. “Rural landowners also have property rights that need to be respected. Adherence to the trespass law and open lines of communication will result in a successful hunt for all parties involved.” www.wfbf.com

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national news

Congress Needs to Address Estate Tax, Expiring Tax Provisions

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ith Congress adjourned, it appears federal lawmakers will address the estate tax and other pending tax issues in a ‘lame duck’ session following the November election. Farm Bureau’s priority for tax legislation remains estate tax relief. Congress will also need to address a list of tax provisions that expired at the end of 2009 and others set to expire at the end of 2010.

Estate Tax Under current law, there is no estate tax in 2010 and stepped up basis is limited. Without Congressional action, the tax will be reinstated in 2011 with a $1 million exemption (top rate of 55 percent and stepped up basis). The House passed a bill to provide for a $3.5 million exemption and top rate of 45 percent last December. However the Senate has failed to consider the Farm Bureau-supported proposal offered by Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) to phase in a $5 million exemption and 35 percent rate.

During a June lobbying trip to Washington DC, Wisconsin Farm Bureau board members and Institute graduates discussed the importance of a higher exemption and lower rate with respect to the estate tax with Senators Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold.

“Both Senators support a permanent policy with respect to estate taxes but they need to hear from more Farm Bureau members,” said Jeff Lyon, WFBF Director of Government Relations. “Ask them to support the Lincoln/Kyl amendment as it will cover the vast majority of farmers in Wisconsin.”

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Did You Know?

With this low $1 million exemption, as many as 10 percent of farms and ranches could owe estate taxes next year, according to the Agriculture Department. In comparison, only about 1.5 percent of farms had to pay the tax in 2009, when the exemption was $3.5 million.

Expired Tax Provisions The Joint Committee on Taxation lists 72 tax provisions that expired at the end of 2009. Both the House and Senate have passed bills extending these provisions but have been unable to agree on final legislation. Farm Bureau policy supports the extension of the following 2009 provisions:

• Tax incentives for biodiesel and renewable diesel: $1 per

gallon production tax credit for biodiesel, small agri-biodiesel producer credit of 10 cents per gallon, and $1 per gallon production tax credit for diesel fuel created from biomass.

Expiring on December 31, 2010 Congress has yet to put forth legislation to address a variety of provisions set to expire. Farm Bureau supports the extension of the following:

• Five-year depreciation for farming business machinery and

• Reduced capital gains tax rates: top rate of 15 percent instead

• Deduction of state and local sales taxes.

• Reduced personal income tax rates: preventing the 10 percent

equipment.

• Additional standard deduction for state and local property taxes.

• Provision encouraging contributions of conservation easements.

of 20 percent.

bracket from reverting to 15 percent, the 25 percent bracket from reverting to 28 percent, the 28 percent bracket from reverting to 31 percent, the 33 percent bracket from reverting to 36 percent, and the 35 percent bracket from reverting to 39.6 percent.

• Ethanol Tax Incentives: Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax

Credit (VEETC) to allow an ethanol blender to claim a tax credit of 45 cents per gallon and Small Ethanol Producer Credit to allow a small ethanol producer to claim an additional tax credit of 10 cents per gallon.

• Marriage penalty relief: keep the deduction for married couples at twice the amount for singles.

• Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) hold harmless provision: prevents additional taxpayers from paying AMT.

• Expanded small business expensing amounts: retain amount eligible for Section 179 deduction at $250,000 instead of reverting to $25,000.

Farm Bureau members are encouraged to contact their Senators and House Representative and ask them to support legislation that will reinstate or continue these tax provisions that are important to production agriculture. october | november 2010

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Wisconsin

Farm Bureau

member benefit guide F E D E R A T I O N

Accidental Death Policy

Budget Truck Rental

Members receive $1,500 in accidental death insurance for themselves and their spouse, and $500 for minors. The policy increases in value for consecutive years of membership up to $3,500. The policy covers any accident, except those on a public road or highway occurring or arising out of occupancy or use of a vehicle required to be licensed under state laws.

Farm Bureau members receive a 15% discount on Budget Truck rentals.

To use the discount call 800.566.8422 or visit www.budgettruck.com/wfbf.

Use the Wisconsin Farm Bureau account number 56000133165 to get your 15% discount.

AgriPlan Medical Reimbursement Program The Wisconsin Farm Bureau has teamed up with TASC (Total Administrative Services Corporation) to bring you the AgriPlan Medical Reimbursement Program. TASC is located in Wisconsin. The AgriPlan is based on Section 105 of the IRS code written in 1954, and can allow farmers and other self-employed individuals to deduct 100% of their family’s medical expenses through their farm or business. AgriPlan clients save an average of $3000 in taxes per year. Deductible expenses include health, dental, and vision insurance premiums, qualified long term care insurance premiums, as well as any non-insured medical expenses. Farm Bureau members will receive a $10 discount off of the already low cost of the plan.

To learn more about the AgriPlan and/or sign up, simply click on the AgriPlan image or call one of TASC’s friendly AgriPlan specialists at 888.595.2261.

Choice Hotels Members save an average of 20% at participating Choice Brand Hotels.

Call 800.258.2847 to make the required advance reservation. Request Wisconsin Farm Bureau member rate using ID# 0058419.

www.tasconline.com

The Country Today Newspaper

AVIS-Budget Car Rental

Here’s a way to save money, get informed on ag issues, AND help support a popular Farm Bureau program. Members of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau now receive $7.50 off a yearly subscription (and $15 off a two-year subscription) to The Country Today newspaper. The folks at The Country Today will then give a $5 donation to the Ag in the Classroom program, which helps educate Wisconsin youth about farming and food production. To start a new subscription or extend a renewal, call 888.833.9268, and prepare to give your Farm Bureau membership number. An advertisement (with a mail-in form) will also appear in the next issue of Farm Bureau’s Rural Route. If you would like a free copy of the newspaper to check out first, just visit www. thecountrytoday.com and request a free sample. Farm Bureau members can now save up to 28 percent by reading the newspaper that has cared about rural life in the Midwest since 1977, and support the Ag in the Classroom program in the process.

With 4,800 locations in over 140 countries, there’s always an Avis nearby to help you with your car rental needs. And whether you’re traveling for business or pleasure, your membership in the (Name of State) Farm Bureau® entitles you to special discounts. For instance, you can save 5%-25% on Avis’ daily and weekly rates. To receive these discounted rates, all you need to do is use your Avis Worldwide Discount number: (WISCONSIN A298849) • Budget discount number (Y775749) www.avis.com, www.budget.com

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Fa Dodge Vehicle Rebate

Rural Insurance

Members are eligible for a $500 rebate on a purchase or lease from Dodge on selected vehicles. You must be a Farm Bureau member for 30 days before getting the rebate. Get details from your local Dodge dealer. Eligible 2011 models include: Charger, Avenger, Caliber, Journey, Grand Caravan (including Cargo Van), Ram Pickup 1500, Ram Pickup 2500/3500, Ram 3500 Chassis Cab, Ram 4500/5500 Chassis Cab, Dakota and Nitro.

Insurance coverage available exclusively to members includes: auto, crop/ hail, farm liability and health. Rural also provides a wide array of insurance and financial products for businesses and families including business auto, farm / commercial / and business insurance. Refer to the Yellow Pages or go online at www.ruralins.com to find your nearest Rural agent.

Farm Bureau Bank Take advantage of Farm Bureau Bank’s FDICinsured checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, credit cards and vehicle and home loans. To get started, call 800.492.FARM (3276), or look online at www.farmbureaubank.com.

FS-Growmark Patronage Farm Bureau members who are patrons of their local FS cooperative, may be eligible to receive additional patronage when patronage is paid.

Grainger Grainger Industrial Supply is the nation’s leading maintenance, repair and operational supplies distributor. Receive a 10% discount on all Grainger catalog items. For a free catalog call 608.221.3861. When ordering use the Farm Bureau account # 855922019 and a credit card.

Members with an existing account who would like to take advantage of the 10% discount can call Tracy Pape at 608.828.5707 to have their account coded to receive the discount. Provide name, membership number, the company name, billing address, phone number, and the Grainger account number. Grainger now has a toll free order number for Farm Bureau members only.

FB Apparel FB Apparel offers you more than 700 apparel items to choose from, including products from your favorite brands like Cutter & Buck, Columbia, GEAR for Sports, and Dickies, to name a few. Looking for an Award or Special Gift?

With the Gift and Awards Research Tool, you are able to access thousands of gift and award ideas quickly. Check out “Agriculture Friendly” products by clicking on “Products Made from Renewable Resources.” Need that personal touch? Contact your FBApparel representative at 866.859.7005.

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ScriptSave® Prescription Drug Savings Card ScriptSave® is a prescription drug savings card available to all Wisconsin Farm Bureau members. The card is available to you at NO COST as an added feature of your membership. Your entire household can use the card for instant savings that average over 22% with potential savings up to 50% on brand name and generic medications (based on national program savings data). The ScriptSave card is accepted at thousands of independent and chain pharmacies nationwide. The card also offers savings on vision care, hearing care, and diabetes care and supplies.

You can sign-up by calling ScriptSave directly at 800.700.3957. Mention Group # 703A to identify yourself as a Wisconsin Farm Bureau member.

DISCOUNT ONLY - NOT INSURANCE. This program is not an insurance policy and does not provide insurance coverage. Discounts are available exclusively through participating pharmacies.

Wyndham Hotel Group Members save 20% off the best available rate at more than 5,000 participating locations throughout North America. Mention Farm Bureau ID# 62775 when making your reservations. Call 877.670.7088 to make a reservation with these hotel chains: Days Inn®, Howard Johnson®, Baymont Inn and Suites®, Microtel®, Knights Inn®, Ramada®, Travelodge®, Hawthorn Suites®, Wyndham Hotels®, Wingate Inns® and Super 8 Motels®.

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leadership Farm Bureau Hosts 2012 Hawaiian Cruise The 93rd Annual Meeting of the American Farm Bureau Federation will be held January 8-11, 2012 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Wisconsin Farm Bureau members traveling to Hawaii for this event will have the opportunity to participate in an optional 7-day pre-convention “island-hopping” Hawaiian cruise on Norwegian Cruise Lines’ Pride of America. WFBF has blocked a limited number of cabins on this cruise and space is filling up quickly.

Sailing round-trip from Honolulu, site of the AFBF Annual Meeting, the cruise will take place December 31, 2011 through January 7, 2012 and will visit five ports of call on four islands: Oahu, Maui, Hawaii’s Big Island, and Kauai. For those wishing to experience the beauty of Hawaii while avoiding the lost time and considerable cost associated with inter-island airline flights, this one-of-a-kind cruise will provide your “floating hotel room” as you travel from island to island and experience the best of Hawaii.

By making a refundable deposit, you can claim your spot before available space is gone. To request a flyer with complete details on this cruise and current fares, first contact Bob Leege, WFBF Executive Director of Member Relations at 608.828.5710 or e-mail bleege.fbcenter@wfbf.com. After doing so, make your reservation by calling WFBF’s contact at Norwegian Cruise Lines at the number listed in the flyer.

Farm Bureau ‘Goes to College’ This fall a newly-formed collegiate Farm Bureau chapter will be launched at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

While it’s the first of its kind in Wisconsin, the new chapter will be part of a network of 41 collegiate chapters in 18 states across the nation organized for the 18

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Mark Your Calendar for AFBF’s 92nd Annual Meeting in Atlanta Atlanta, Georgia is the site of the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 92nd Annual Meeting, to be held January 9-12, 2011. The Annual Meeting theme for 2011 is Producing Results. Wisconsin Farm Bureau members traveling to this year’s event will experience a city with rich history, a thriving business climate, and true Southern hospitality.

During the convention, the Wisconsin delegation will stay at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis Hotel, which is located six blocks from the Georgia World Congress Center, site of the AFBF Annual Meeting. Room rates at the Marriott Marquis are $169 per night plus tax.

The 2011 Annual Meeting will again feature a variety of issue conferences, top-notch speakers, and the Farm Bureau Showcase. The Annual Meeting registration fee is $100 per person, which covers entrance to all sessions.

Farm Bureau members will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of optional pre- and postconvention tours, including several that highlight the diversity of agriculture in the Atlanta area.

Registration materials are now available. Contact Bob Leege, WFBF Executive Director of Member Relations, at 608.828.5710 or e-mail bleege.fbcenter@wfbf.com.

purpose of introducing college students to Farm Bureau programs and activities.

One of the things that will make the collegiate Farm Bureau chapter unique among agricultural organizations on campus is the group’s focus on educating students about agricultural policy and issue advocacy.

In addition the chapter’s on-campus activities, members will have the opportunity to take part in various

regional, state, and national events organized through the Wisconsin Farm Bureau’s Young Farmer and Agriculturist (YFA) program.

Bruce Jones, an agricultural economist at the UW-Madison will serve as the faculty advisor for the chapter.

For more information, contact Dale Beaty, Farm Bureau’s Director of Training and Leadership at dbeaty.fbcenter@wfbf.com or 608.828.5714.

wisconsin farm bureau federation

leadership

Suzy Favor Hamilton to Keynote 2011 Wisconsin Ag Women’s Summit Badgerland Financial and the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation will partner to host the 2011 Wisconsin Ag Women’s Summit March 18-19, 2011 at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells. This premier event is designed for all state women involved in agriculture, with numerous workshops centered around key areas of interest to agricultural women: networking, agriculture awareness, and wellness/family living/life balance.

Olympic and NCAA champion runner Suzy Favor Hamilton is the keynote speaker and her presentation is titled, Success is not Perfection. She will encourage women to define success by choosing to be involved in activities which make them happy and healthy.

Taking Sides Farm Bureau members Steve Towns of Janesville and Jessica Gilbert of Withee showed the range of emotions expressed during a mock hearing at the State Capitol on September 9. The experience was part of the Farm Bureau Institute’s state issues seminar where participants were to prepare legislative testimony on the issues of banning gestation stalls for sows and allowing the sale of raw milk directly to consumers. The Institute is a premier one-year leadership training course designed to foster the next crop of Farm Bureau leaders. For information on being part of the 2011 Institute class, contact Dale Beaty at 608.

828.5714 or dbeaty.fbcenter@wfbf.com. october | november 2010

A wide variety of learning sessions on Friday and Saturday will cover topics on health and wellness, farm employee management, effectively working and volunteering with people from different generations, surviving in the era of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), personal marketing, estate and tax law discussion, managing farm records, effective communication, planning for the unexpected, and balancing farm, family and personal priorities.

On Friday evening, dueling piano entertainment will be provided by Piano Fondue.

The registration fee for the conference is $75 and the room rate at the Kalahari is $149 per night. Registration materials and a complete agenda for the event will be available in the near future. If you have questions or need more information, please contact Dale Beaty at 608.828.5714 or email him at dbeaty.fbcenter@wfbf.com.

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Scrapbook YFA Summer

Fair Fun Members of the Dane County Farm Bureau hosted a ‘Night at the Oasis’ party before a concert at the Dane County Fair in July. Shown here are: Kelsey Elmer, Maria McGinnis, Jenny Dierickx and District 2 Coordinator Becky Anding.

Ride Em’ Rick As chairman of the Wisconsin Young Farmer & Agriculturist Committee, Rick Roden is the type of leader who always grabs the bull by the horns.

Therefore, was it any wonder that he took that charge somewhat literally at a national gathering of young Farm Bureau members in Tulsa this summer?

Play Ball Nicholas and Sawyer Kuczer had a memorable day at the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers game on July 18. The two boys were in the right place at the right time to catch two pop up foul balls. They were there with their parents, Rebecca and Adam Kuczer, for a District 6 and 7 YFA summer event.

Tubing Time YFA members from Farm Bureau’s District 2 took a tubing trip down a stretch of the Sugar River between Albany and Brodhead in rural Green County on Saturday, July 10. Afterwards they enjoyed a cookout at the McNeely Farm.

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leadership

Annual Meeting December 3-6, 2010

K a l a h a ri R e s o r t a nd C o nf e r e n c e C e n t e r , Wis c o nsin D e l l s

More than 1,000 Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation members will celebrate 2010’s achievements and chart the course for 2011 when they meet at Wisconsin Dells’ Kalahari Resort & Convention Center this December 3-6 for the 91st Annual Meeting of the WFBF. The 2010 Annual Meeting will again coincide with the WFBF Young Farmer & Agriculturist Conference (held Friday, December 3 through Sunday, December 5). More than 250 members ages 18 to 35 are expected to attend the YFA Conference co-sponsored by Rural Mutual Insurance Company, FS-GROWMARK and Farm Bureau.

Saturday evening’s Farm Bureau Extravaganza! will feature noted Midwest a cappella, Tonic Solfa. This year’s Farm Bureau Extravaganza event is jointly sponsored by GreenStone Farm Credit Services and United Farm Credit Services.

Don’t miss this exciting chance to network with Farm Bureau members from across Wisconsin.

Registration packets for the events are available at county Farm Bureau offices, or call WFBF at 800.261.FARM.

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Wisconsin

Farm Bureau

Agenda WFBF & 76 RMIC Annual Meetings F E D E R A T I O N

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Friday, December 3

Sunday, December 5

YFA Conference Begins

7:00 a.m.

WFBF Women’s Committee Meeting and Reorganization – Empress

2:00 p.m.

YFA Committee Meeting – Empress

8:00 a.m.

Registration Opens – Registration Booth 3

3:00 p.m.

Registration Opens – Registration Booth 3

Morning Devotional – Tamarind/Guava

5:00 p.m.

First-timer’s Orientation Session – Crown Palm

9:00 a.m.

Resolutions Processing – Empress

Discussion Meet Finals – Suites I & II

6:00 p.m.

Young Farmer & Agriculturist Welcome Dinner – Ballrooms A/B/G/H 8:30 p.m.

Reception & Mixer – Ballrooms C/D/E/F

Saturday, December 4

• More Than Animal Rights: Battling Anti-Technology (Steve Kopperud)

7:00 a.m.

YFA Conference Ends

Registration Opens – Registration Booth 3

YFA Committee Reorganization Meeting – Empress

12:30 p.m.

8:00 a.m.

YFA Breakfast & Program – Ballrooms A/B/G/H

10:00 a.m.

Workshops (10:00–10:50 a.m. and 11:00–11:50 a.m.)

2:30 p.m.

Policy Development Committee Meeting – Empress

12:00 p.m.

YFA Luncheon – Ballrooms A/B/G/H

Discussion Meet Judges Luncheon and Orientation - Cypress

WFBF Annual Meeting Begins 12:30 p.m.

Producer Club Luncheon – Ballrooms D & E

1:30 p.m.

Discussion Meet Quarterfinals I – Acacia, Bamboo, Crown Palm, Ironwood, Banyan

Excellence in Ag Practice Session – Portia

Achievement Award Interviews – Desert Rose/Mahogany 2:00 p.m.

Trade Show Opens – Suites III, IV, V & VI

2:30 p.m.

Discussion Meet Quarterfinals II – Acacia, Bamboo, Crown Palm, Ironwood, Banyan

3:00 p.m.

Excellence in Ag Presentations – Portia

4:00 p.m.

Discussion Meet Semifinals – Banyan, Ironwood

Farm Bureau Reception – Suites III, IV, V & VI

5:00 p.m.

Trade Show Closes

5:30 p.m.

Farm Bureau Extravaganza!

Featured Entertainment: Tonic Sol-Fa – Ballrooms A/B/C/D/E/F/G/H

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10:00 a.m.

Buffet Brunch & General Session – Ballrooms A/B/C/D/E/F/G/H

8:30 p.m.

Trade Show & Silent Auction Open

(until 10:00 p.m.)

Rural Route

3:30 p.m.

Trade Show Opens (until 5:30 p.m.)

Workshops

• Agriculture and the 112th Congress: What Lies Ahead?

• The Discovery Farms Program: Where Have We Been and Where the Heck Are We Going?

• Insuring Your Farm Operation: Understanding Farm Coverage Including Worker’s Compensation 4:30 p.m.

Reception – Suites III, IV, V & VI

5:30 p.m.

Silent Auction & Trade Show End

6:00 p.m.

Farm Bureau Awards Banquet & Program – Ballrooms A/B/C/F/G/H Monday, December 6 7:00 a.m.

Registration Opens – Registration Booth 3

Breakfast & General Session – Ballrooms A/B/C/F/G/H 9:00 a.m.

District Caucuses: District 1: Wisteria District 2: Portia District 3: Tamarind District 4: Guava District 5: Mangrove

District 6: District 7: District 8: District 9:

Aralia Marula Aloeswood Tamboti

10:30 a.m.

Resolutions & Business Meeting – Ballrooms A/B/C/F/G/H

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Fa

workshops and entertainment Saturday, December 4, 10:00 a.m.

What is Your Role in Telling Agriculture’s Story Using Social Media?

Chris Chinn, Farmer

Understanding Your Financials For Your Future Gary Sipiorski, Dairy Development Manager, Vita-Plus Corp.

Agriculture Policy and You: Making Your Voice Heard Mary Kay Thatcher, Director of Public Policy, American Farm Bureau Federation

Farm Bureau Extravaganza!

Featured Entertainment Saturday, December 4, 5:30 p.m.

Tonic Sol-fa Although they are simply four voices and a tambourine, Tonic Sol-fa has spent the past decade on the road carving their niche as the nation’s top vocal group. In that time, this quartet has been named one of the top five “must see” groups in America, has been awarded numerous original song and album awards in pop, gospel and holiday genres, appeared on NBC’s The Today Show and in the pages of Newsweek magazine. Outings with Jay Leno, Shawn Colvin, Lonestar and Garrison Keillor have propelled album sales to more than 1,000,000 copies (mostly sold from the back of their trailer!) and have earned the group thousands of intensely loyal fans.

october | november 2010

Keynote Presentation Sunday, December 5, 10:00 a.m.

More Than Animal Rights: Battling Anti-Technology Steve Kopperud, Executive Vice President of Policy Directions, Inc.; Founder and Past-president of Animal Agriculture Alliance

Afternoon Breakout Sessions Sunday, December 5, 3:30 p.m.

Agriculture and the 112th Congress: What Lies Ahead?

Mary Kay Thatcher, Director of Public Policy, American Farm Bureau Federation

The Discovery Farms Program: Where Have We Been and Where the Heck Are We Going?

Amber Radatz, UW-Extension Outreach Specialist

Insuring Your Farm Operation: Understanding Farm Coverage Including Worker’s Compensation David Meihak and Chuck Reitz, Agency Managers, Rural Mutual Insurance Company

2010 WFBF Young Farmer & Agriculturist Conference Sponsors:

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*Must be a Farm Bureau® member for at least 30 days. Contact your local Farm Bureau® office for details. †EPA estimates based on 20 highway mpg. Farm Bureau® is a federally registered collective membership and a registered service mark of the American Farm Bureau Federation.® HEMI is a registered trademark of Chrysler Group LLC.

Summer

Scrapbook On the Show Circuit Wisconsin Ag in the Classroom exhibited in the Youth Tent at Farm Technology Days in River Falls in July.

Participants were able to take an agricultural trivia quiz, pick up educational resources about agriculture, and do several hands-on activities. Teachers and home-school parents were able to pick up resource packets about Ag in the Classroom.

Prize Pizzas In August the Wisconsin Ag in the Classroom Program sponsored the ‘Wonderful Wisconsin Pizza Contest’ at the Wisconsin State Fair. Fourteen participants created pizzas using a maximum of 15 ingredients grown or produced on Wisconsin farms. Their entries also included a brief written description of the products used and how they are produced or processed in Wisconsin. The winners were (from left): second place, Terry Magestro (Wisconsin Great Bison Pizza) of Oak Creek; third place, Anne Luty (I Need-A Fajita Pizza) of Waukesha; and first place, Beth Campbell (Bucky Cherry Sausage Beer Pizza) of Belleville. Recipes can be downloaded from the Wisconsin Ag in the Classroom website.

Happy Campers Nearly 300 students and chaperones attended one of three days of Wisconsin State Fair Day Camp this year. Incoming second through fifth grade students from the Milwaukee area spent a day at the Wisconsin State Fair. While there they visited the House of Moo, Natural Resources Park, Discovery Barnyard, watched the popular ‘Veggie Races,’ tasted Wisconsin agricultural products and visited various barns. The Wisconsin Ag in the Classroom Program provides sponsorship as well as staff support for the camp.

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ag in the classroom

Powering Up Rheba Mabie, an agriculture and science instructor at Wausau West High School, is shown lifting control rods in a full assembly at the Point Beach Energy Center in Two Rivers. Teachers enrolled in the summer teacher training learned about how energy is produced, transported and used throughout the state.

Teacher Training Dave and Terri Wilfert (right) of Wilfert Farms near Two Rivers gave the history of their farm and explained how they expanded into the fresh fruit and vegetable business in addition to growing traditional crops. Teachers attending (pictured from left) included Joyce Turba and Denise Nemetz of Southern Door Schools, Rheba Mabie of Wausau West High School, and Melissa Mateske of New Holstein Schools. Other stops on this summer teacher training day included Point Beach Energy Center, Lakeside Foods in Manitowoc and LondonDairy Alpaca Farm in Two Rivers.

Spread Your Wings A highlight of the Wisconsin State Fair Day Camp is a visit to the Department of Natural Resources Park. Here campers were able to see what their “wingspan” was compared to various birds. Sauk Prairie and Wisconsin Heights FFA members as well as 4-H youth leaders serve as youth camp counselors. In addition to a farm safety grant from the University of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Foundation, other sponsors included Frontier FS Cooperative, Wisconsin State Fair Park Youth Foundation, Wisconsin Women for Agriculture-Rock River Chapter, Sue and Bill Wetley, Country Fresh Meats, Wisconsin State Fair Dairy Promotion Committee, Wisconsin Pork Producers Association, Wisconsin Bakers Association, Wisconsin Cattlemen’s Association, Foremost Farms, and the FFA chapters that worked in the State Fair’s FFA Ice Cream Sundae booth.

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ag in the classroom

Outstanding Teacher Award

“If I lived on a dairy farm, I’d want people to know that…”

If you know a teacher that does a great job teaching about agriculture, the Farm Bureau wants to help recognize them.

The Wisconsin Ag in the Classroom Program annually awards a Wisconsin teacher or a teaching team for their achievements in teaching students the importance of agriculture while integrating ag concepts across their curriculum.

Ag in the Classroom’s Outstanding Teacher Award goes to certified teachers currently integrating ag concepts into non-agricultural curricula in the pre-kindergarten through high school levels. These teachers must utilize agricultural information and/or materials within the classroom curriculum in an effort to assist students in learning the importance of agriculture.

Learning activities may include, but are not limited to, understanding agriculture’s impact on personal lives, our national heritage, the environment, national security and the economy.

Innovative and interdisciplinary programs are encouraged. Please note that certified agriculture education instructors are not eligible for this award.

The state winner(s) will receive a plaque, a $500 cash award, and will be Wisconsin’s nominee for the Excellence in Teaching About Agriculture Award Program presented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Ag in the Classroom program.

Applications are available from the Wisconsin AITC website (www. wisagclassroom.org). Simply download the form and send it in by November 10.

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The contest is promoted to Wisconsin grade schools, 4-H members and home school students by county Farm Bureau members.

Applicants need to submit essays by April 1 to their county’s essay contest coordinator, listed on the AITC website.

Eligible essays must be between 100 to 300 words in length and are judged on content, grammar, spelling and neatness. Nine district winners and a state winner will be chosen and each will receive a classroom presentation in the spring of 2011. This year’s essay contest is being sponsored by We Energies, Foremost Farms and the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.

All contest rules, information, lesson plans, resources, and sample activities will be available at www.wisagclassroom.org or by contacting Darlene Arneson at 608-828-5719 or darneson.fbcenter@wfbf.com.

Did You Know?

Dairy contributes more to Wisconsin (26.5 billion) than citrus to Florida ($9 billion) or potatoes to Idaho (2.5 billion).

wisconsin farm bureau federation

foundation

Silent Auction Benefits FB Foundation’s Good Work One of the favorite traditions at the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Annual Meeting is the Silent Auction that benefits the work of the Farm Bureau’s Foundation.

A large selection of items will go to the highest bidder again this year thanks to the generosity of members, county Farm Bureaus, businesses and other sponsors.

Bidding starts at noon on Saturday, December 4 and concludes at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, December 5.

There’s still time to donate an item to the Silent Auction. Simply download a form at www.wfbf. com/wfbfoundation/.

Dear Ms. Arneson and Memb ers of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau, Thank you so much for spons oring the Wisconsin 4-H Key Award. I have been a very active member of 4-H within and beyond Winn ebago County for many years and receiving this aw ard for all my efforts is truly an honor. Thank you again for your generosity and support of Wisconsin’s youth.

Sincerely, Christian Y. Krueger Winnebago County

room, Dear Wisconsin Ag in the Class rity in On behalf of Sigma Alpha Soro you for all of Pla tteville, I would like to thank is grea tly your continued support. Your work appreciated. Thank you.

Emily Hill Philanthropy Co-Chair

Dear Wisconsin Farm Bureau Founda

tion,

Thank you for giving us the awesome opportunity to participate in the FFA Farm Forum Program.

We enjoyed the workshops, speakers, and the chance to interact with other FFA members with the same interests. Thank you for your contin ued support of this program. We appreciate your generosit y.

Whitehall FFA Chapter

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foundation

Do your Christmas Shopping at the Annual Meeting About the Foundation The Wisconsin Farm Bureau Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)3 tax deductible entity to support agricultural education and leadership programs. The WFB Foundation was established in 1988.

Farm Bureau Foundation Wants You to Help ‘Learn and Lead’ The Wisconsin Farm Bureau Foundation’s “Learn and Lead” growth campaign is a pledge that dedicated Farm Bureau members take to ensure a bright future for agriculture.

The Learn and Lead campaign’s five-year pledge helps fuel the Foundation’s mission of supporting agricultural leadership, youth and educational programs in Wisconsin. Participants pledge a minimum of $250 annually for five years and are recognized in several ways.

There is still time to be a part of the second phase of this campaign. To learn more, see the brochure at www.wfbf.com/ wfbfoundation/ which details the recognition program for the “Learn and Lead II” campaign or contact WFB Foundation Director Darlene Arneson at 608.828.5719 or darneson. fbcenter@wfbf.com.

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Along with bidding at the Silent Auction, there are many great opportunities to purchase Farm Bureau related items at the WFBF Annual Meeting. It helps support the Farm Bureau Foundation’s educational programs and activities, and the timing (just weeks before Christmas) couldn’t be better.

Items for your shopping list should include: The New Betty Engel Painting: Wisconsin Farm Bureau’s favorite farmer-artist Betty Engel has donated a beautiful painting of a stone church titled “Peaceful Clearing.” Her perennially popular paintings are always a favorite among the many items at the Silent Auction.

Betty Engel Note Cards: The image of “Peaceful Clearing” along with other past favorite Betty Engel paintings will be featured on note cards available in packages of 20 with envelopes.

Betty Engel Trivets: Last year four Betty Engel paintings were auctioned off to celebrate the Foundation’s first ‘Learn and Lead’ campaign. This year, those wanting a keepsake of those paintings can purchase 6” ceramic trivets of each painting while supplies last.

In addition, Children’s Books, including the Wisconsin Farm Bureau’s 2011 Book of the Year, will be available at the Ag in the Classroom (AITC) booth. Please remember that AITC shirts and Farm Bureau members signs are Advance Sales Only. In order to save on shipping costs, AITC shirts ordered prior to the Annual Meeting will be available for pick up. Farm Bureau member signs ordered by November 15 will also be available for pick up. Order forms are available at www. wfbf.com/wfbfoundation.

wisconsin farm bureau federation

SurpriSed to hear the Humane Society of the United States shares little of your donations with local pet shelters?

So were we.

The dog-watchers need a watchdog.

Join the discussion at:

HUMANEWATCH.ORG

HUMANEWATCH.ORG Keeping a watchful eye on the Humane Society of the United States

Keeping a watchful eye on the Humane Society of the United States

rural mutual

is a Ward’s Top 50 Company – Again!

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or the second straight year, Rural Mutual Insurance Company was recognized by the Ward Group as one of the top 50 property casualty insurance companies in the nation. Rural Mutual’s selection as a Ward’s 50® Top Performer for the year was based on Rural Mutual’s positive financial performance over the last five years.

“During these difficult economic times, it does me proud to be affiliated with such a dynamic group of employees, agents and affiliates,” said Peter Pelizza, Chief Executive Officer and

Executive Vice President of Rural Mutual. “What this recognition says is we are better prepared than most to live up to our promise to our policyholders.

That truly is the most important thing we do, and I am thankful for the recognition that goes with it.”

The Ward Group annually recognizes the top 50 performing insurance companies of over 3,000 property-casualty insurance companies domiciled in the United States. Each Ward’s 50 company has passed all safety and consistency screens and achieved superior performance over the five years analyzed. The primary objective is to compare their performance as a group with the rest of the insurance industry.

Rural Mutual Supports 4-H at State Fair Meat Products Auction

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ural Mutual helped put a spark in this year’s Wisconsin State Fair’s Governor’s Sweepstakes Meat Products Auction held Aug. 10 to support the Wisconsin 4-H Foundation.

Rural Mutual agent LeRoy Haueser, from Cedarburg and a long-time auction bidder and supporter of 4-H, got the auction started by helping to purchase the Grand Champion Ham. Rural Mutual contributed to the auction flurry after it purchased the Grand Champion Flavored Snack Sausages, produced by Lodi

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Sausage Company of Lodi, and then donated it back to be sold again. The sausages were sold six times raising $5,500. Rural Mutual also was the winning bidder for the Grand Champion whole muscle jerky and Reserved Grand Champion flavored snack sausages.

The event is hosted annually by the Wisconsin Association of Meat Processors. Winning entries from the association were donated to the Wisconsin 4-H Foundation for the auction. The auction raised over $44,000 for Wisconsin 4-H youth programs.

LeRoy Haeuser, Rural Mutual agent, is next to Governor Jim Doyle, who is holding the Grand Champion ham.

Mike Ruder, Vice President of Underwriting, and Todd Argall, Vice President of Customer Acquisition and Service for Rural Mutual, holding the Grand Champion whole muscle jerky.

wisconsin farm bureau federation

*Must be a Farm Bureau® member for at least 30 days. Contact your local Farm Bureau® office for details. †EPA estimates based on 20 highway mpg. Farm Bureau® is a federally registered collective membership and a registered service mark of the American Farm Bureau Federation.® HEMI is a registered trademark of Chrysler Group LLC.

RURAL MEANS...

YOU’RE NOT AFRAID OF HARD WORK SEE WHY RURAL MUTUAL IS #1 WITH WISCONSIN FARMERS

More Wisconsin farmers turn to Rural Mutual because of the hard work and attentive care that we provide. Contact a Rural Mutual agent to get the “undivided attention” and quality farm insurance you deserve.

Find your local Rural Mutual Insurance agent at UndividedAttention.com

Rural Mutual Insurance Company