President’s Podium: It’s Time for Action!

It’s time for action at the Farmers Union!

We are entering convention season, with county conventions dates being set, and RMFU Annual Convention quickly approaching. (November 20th and 21st in Greeley, Colorado with a special skills and certifications day on Thursday, November 19th! Save the dates!) This year, at convention, we will have two contested elections for our board of directors, including one three-way race.  The Bylaws Working Group has also been very busy collecting member feedback and refining it into proposals which will be submitted for consideration to delegates. If you want to have a say in who represents you on the RMFU Board of Directors and what our organizational bylaws should say, your first step is to be at your county convention and sign up to be a delegate to the annual convention!

The Policy Committee met in August, and the new red-line policy book is available. We have numerous issues that need to be addressed in the agriculture economy, and coming together to strengthen our members’ voices is vital to make change happen. As a grassroots, policy based organization, the work done by the Policy Committee and our delegates to Convention is vital to providing our organization with a strong direction for advocacy.  Get to your county convention and share your ideas and have a robust discussion to start the process. And again, sign up to be a delegate so you can share your ideas and your voice at Convention!

I, too, will be working to share our member voices this week. As you read this, I will be in Washington DC, first for the NFU Board Meetings, then for NFU Fly In. I will be joined by a few dozen RMFU members who will be sharing their stories and experiences in this ag economy while also advocating for our member-adopted policies. The visits our Fly In team completes this week will assist us in establishing relationships with our legislators so that, over the next year, when we contact our legislators and their staff, they understand that it is not just one voice of one person speaking, but rather the voice of our 14,000 members, united in advocating for thriving family farms and ranches.

Our organization represents every part of agriculture, from the large dryland farms and ranches to the direct-to-consumer fruit, vegetable, and meat producers. The diversity of our membership and the grassroots nature of our policy brings us tremendous credibility – but it requires member voices to make it all happen.  Help us strengthen all our member’s voices and make a difference during these tumultuous times!

We’ll see you at Convention!