President’s Podium: Fellows and Fly In

Our mission here at RMFU is simple: to strengthen member voices through education, cooperation, and legislation. This mission guides the daily work we do, and both the education and legislation parts of our mission were on full display last week in Washington DC. I had the pleasure of observing our members and our 2024 Fellows class carrying our grassroots policy to the offices of our Senators, Representatives, and national agencies.

I continue to be impressed by the members of our Fellows program over the years, intelligent, inquisitive members who are hungry to learn about what they can do to help achieve our vision of a society in which family farmers and ranchers and their communities thrive. RMFU provides the resources to help these eager students learn what resources are available to them, and how to advocate for themselves and their communities. It makes me proud of our education program to see members go from being nervous about speaking in meetings to being fully present in our nation’s capitol, confidently discussing about our member-adopted policies and high-fiving and laughing with those who represent them in the federal government.

It can be intimidating and difficult for people to effectively advocate in our state and national capitals as individuals. When we advocate as members of an organization representing thousands of family farmers and ranchers across three states, I see how much more weight our voices carry.

Thank you to those who took time out of their schedules to attend the Fly In this year and in past years and thank you to all the members who help us form our policy at RMFU and NFU. I encourage everyone to attend a Fly In, and if any of the discussion of our Fellows program intrigues you, keep an eye out for the registration for our 2025 class coming this winter!