The National Farmers’ Union better known as NFU was founded in Point, Texas in 1902. It was founded by grassroot farmers who were concerned about profitability issues and monopolistic practices. The National Farmers’ Union has been working ever since 1902 to “protect and enhance the economic well-being and quality of life for family, farmers, ranchers, fishermen, consumers, and rural communities through education, cooperation and legislation” (NFU: A Rich History). In this organization NFU is represented by farmers and ranchers in 33 different states. Below are all 50 states, the brown states are eligible for you to join as a member of the national organization which is $60.00, while the states that are green there is no formal state organization, …show more content…
however, you are still able to join. In National Farmers’ Union the key to success and dependability of this organization has been “from the structure of the Farmers Union’s grassroots in which policy positions are initiated locally by the members and the staff of Farmers Union.
The policy process will include a presentation of resolutions by individuals, and perhaps followed by a possible adoption at the local, state, and national levels” (About Us). In this organization the leader better known as the president, Roger Johnson, was elected the National Farmers Union’s fourteenth president in 2009. As president, Johnson is the chief executive and public spokesman for the organization. Under the president is the vice president, Donn Teske, he was elected in 2014. Next is the board of directors, each one of the 33 states consists of a president, vice president, board of directors, or may have other leadership positions, for intense Hawaii has a president, vice president, treasurer, and secretary. In this organization the members of National Farmers Union strive to tackle their accomplishments, maintain hardworking staff, and “strive to articulate the fundamental principles of farm and food policy goals and objectives of food, fiber, and energy within our nation” (NFU 2015 Policy – …show more content…
Preamble). The National Farmers Union is always hard at work and in the 2014 annual report the organization successfully accomplished by “granting a total of $6,000 in scholarships to five colleges, lobbied an increase funding for nutrition programs and food stamp benefits, emergency food purchases, and expanded access to and delivery of school meal programs,” (Contents Volume) any many other great accomplishments.
In reference to the farm and food policy goals and objectives under the dairy policy, the National Farmers Union urges that Congress develops “a dairy program in which is very easy to comprehend by allowing diary producers around the nation to receive a profitable return on their investment” (NFU 2015 Policy – Dairy Policy). The NFU lists examples of what it should consider for example it should “encourage and enable producers to use sustainable environmental practices, assist new farmers entering into dairying, provide transparency in milk price reporting,” (NFU 2015 Policy – Dairy Policy) and many more. However, the NFU only supports a few things involving the Dairy Policy. They support “equal access to raw/unpasteurized milk for human consumption for all consumers that choose to consume raw/unpasteurized milk” (NFU 2015 Policy – Dairy Policy). Another goal and objective is the livestock policy in reference to animal welfare. NFU supports “the producers’ rights to raise and own livestock, and have their products and livestock recognized as personal property,” (NFU 2015
Policy – Livestock Policy) however, they “oppose a ban on the slaughter of horse and the criminalization of individuals processing, shipping, transporting, purchasing, selling, delivering, or receiving any house, horseflesh, or carcass for the purpose of harvest” (NFU 2015 Policy – Livestock Policy). The last example of a goal and objective is the livestock health. Livestock health is very critical to agriculture because our nation needs a healthy and safe food supply. NFU supports “good animal husbandry practices as the primary means of livestock health maintenance,” (NFU 2015 Policy – Livestock Health) although the organization highly “opposes off-label use of antibiotics and/or arsenicals and fluoroquinolones in animal production; ionophores should be reported as feed additives” (NFU 2015 Policy – Livestock Health). The National Farmers Union goes into great detail of many other topics related to policy that thousands of family farmers, ranchers, and fishers are trying “to bring about meaningful policy that identifies our common thread and utilizes that energy for the common good” (NFU 2015 Policy – Preamble). Anyone is able to become part of the National Farmers Union to protect and enhance the economic well-being and quality of life. This organization offers tremendous things once becoming a member you are eligible to educational opportunities, software and office supply discounts, equipment discounts, travel discounts, and insurance options all by just becoming a member for $60. Also, you are eligible to sign up for email updates from NFU about news clips, news release, and e-newsletters.
The populist movement occurred in the late 19th century, formed from the Grangers movement where its goal was ta movement for people, to change the economic system where it would benefit farmers. The grange movement rapidly declined in the 1870s and was replaced by the farmer alliances. The farmer alliances were more political rather then social. The farmer’s alliance later formed the populist. The populist movement is considered to be an agrarian revolt by farmers and those concerned with agriculture, because in the gilded age many people were moving to rural areas where banks and industrial systems were superior over agriculture. The high tariffs, decentralization of currency, and decreasing crop prices were hurting the farmers. Founded by James B Weaver and Tom Watson, they wanted the government to have a stronger control over banking and industries. Populism pursued limited coinage of silver and adjusted income tax so the wealthy would be paying more than the poor. They wanted free coinage of silver because this would eventually help the farmers pay off their debts. Parallel, they wanted the government to have control over railroads, telephone and telegraph systems. They wanted to government to be more in control and involved in the economy and most of all, wanted to stop laissez faire. They aimed for a secret ballot and direct election where the president would only hold office for 1 term. Although they won several seats in congress, the Populist Party never won any presidential elections. The Democrats supported much of the Populists goals. Nevertheless, they voted Democrat William Jennings Bryan for the presidency. His goal of unlimited coinage of silver gained the support of the Populist Party uncovered injustice...
This also showed that they also believed farm workers should be treated with more respect and dignity. This association did not just help its members gain more rights, but it also helped navigate social services and government agencies. Later, members of the NFWA could participate in a funeral burial program, a farm workers credit union, and the union. The NFWA, being one of the most active, have gained all these rights and privileges through its hard work and dedication. Leading pilgrimages, strikes, boycotts and fasts, helped to gain better fair medical coverage, better working conditions, higher wages, and workable
The National Future Farmers of America program was started in 1929 by a group of young people desiring an organization in which they could take agricultural education classes, practice their l...
Farmer’s discontent during the period 1870 – 1900 had an impact on their attitudes and actions towards politics. During this period manufacturing had a growth spurt and agricultural started to decline. This made it harder for the farmers to make a decent living. For example in document G it shows how much manufacturing increased between the 50 years. America could no longer dream to be a nation of small freehold farms. Manufacturers and people living in big cities depended on farmers to supply everything. Many people didn’t realize how much of an affect farmers had on their lives. If somebody was to take farms away, everything would have completely crashed.
In 1919, farmers from thirty states, including Missouri, saw a need. They gathered in Chicago and formed the American Farm Bureau Federation. In 1919, they had one goal, they wanted to speak for themselves with the help of their own national organization. Since 1919, Farm Bureau has operated by a philosophy that states: “analyze the problem of farmers and develop a plan of action for these problems” (Missouri). In the past 94 years, the A...
From a financial and marketing standpoint, the effects have been catastrophic. In some areas, milk production has decreased by an average of two liters daily and calving index (efficiency at which new calves are produced) went down by an average of twenty days (Davies NP). Th...
Farm Labor Organization, 1905-1967. New York : NACLD, 1967. Edid, Maralyn. Farm Labor Organizing: Trends and Prospects. Ithaca, NY: Industrial & Labor Relations Press, Cornell University, 1994.
The Farm Bill is legislation that affects many different industries, but it’s purpose is to set policy regarding agriculture, nutrition, conservation and forestry (Committee Agriculture). About every five years, a bill regarding this same issue is passed by Congress (Committee Agriculture). In 1933, the Agricultural Adjustment Act was passed to deal with commodity surpluses that individuals could not afford during the Great Depression in rural America during the Franklin D Roosevelt presidency(Hagstrom). The Food Stamp Act was passed in 1964 under the The Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency (Hagstrom). By 1977, the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program(SNAP), became part of the Farm Bill (Hagstrom). This is the history preceding the time period of the most recent Farm Bill, which has undergone the policy process to modernize the bill.
The farmers created The Farmers Alliance which spread to the cotton states after 1885. The Farmers Alliance greatly stressed cooperation between farmers. By banding together to pay for things they were able to not worry about interest that the bank might charge them, and they knew that if they needed help they would also be able to ask the other farmers. One issue though was that all of the farmers would have to share the same equipment since they all would be owners of it. This could very easily have caused tensions between the farmers if two or more farmers needed the use of something at the same time. Since farmers didn’t want to switch to industrialism they began to lose out. The historian Ray Ginger showed that in 1859 farmers had received about 31 percent of the national income but by 1889 they had only received 16 percent. Ginger also stated that the national wealth in 1860 was 40 percent but then it decreased all the way to 20.5 percent in 1890. Farmers were not at fault for the low prices on their good. They were just trying their best to make some money and do well. It was almost impossible for any farmer to control
The National Farm Association was co-founded by Cesar Chavez and Gil Padilla. The main purpose of this association was to seek and enforce Mexican-American labor laws. Such as reasonable work hours and pay an individual receives. To get their message across, many formed marches, boycotts, and strikes. With these forms of expression, people started to hear the voices of those wanting a change in El Movimiento.
In 1952, United Automobile, International Union, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, International (CIO), were certified by the Board for the Borg-Warner Corporation as the representative of the company’s employees. The unions put forth a collective-bargaining agreement to the company. It also included the UAW-CIO, which was the Local that was chartered by International. The company responded back stating that there would be only one sole representative of the employees and the negotiators of the union objected because the company neglected the certification of International as the representative of the employees’. Furthermore, the company also included a “ballot” clause which stated that there would be a 30-day negotiation
The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) is a national organization that is committed to supporting and promoting the cause of American farmers. As an interest group, they work to influence parts of government in order to further their agenda. The AFBF claims to be the “Voice of Agriculture” as they work to draw the attention of political officials in regards to their most important issues of biotechnology, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, and immigration.
"Agricultural Workers." WISCareers.edu. Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System , july,3,2009. Web. 5 Oct 2012.
The agriculture industry gets criticized all of the time for many reasons. One of the most important aspects Christie thinks is important to convey to people not involved in the industry is that the welfare and well being of our animals is the producers number one priority. Now sure, producers need to do a better job of educating consumers, and making sure they feel comfortable when consuming their product. One of the most important aspects producers need to do a better job of is being able to verbalize and be knowledgeable about some of their practices. By growing up in the agriculture industry it becomes a passion for many people and most want to become advocates that can explain why the industry is so important to not only the people involved in it but also the people not involved
The agricultural industry has come a long way since the 18th century. In 2012, there were over 900,000 female farmers in the United States alone; however, as great as that sounds, it was actually a two percent decrease from the amount in 2007. (http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/rightsandfreedoms/a/How-The-Usda-Has-Addressed-Discrimination.htm?utm_term=women%20in%20agriculture&utm_content=p1-main-1-title&utm_medium=sem&utm_source=msn_s&utm_campaign=adid-d41dbc1f-6d37-4396-9e1b-bb4bee39cbd1-0-ab_mse_ocode-22842&ad=semD&an=msn_s&am=exact&q=women%20in%20agriculture&o=22842&qsrc=999&l=sem&askid=d41dbc1f-6d37-4396-9e1b-bb4bee39cbd1-0-ab_mse)