The National Farmers Union (NFU) Policy Committee is meeting in Washington, D.C., this week to begin revising the organization’s policy. This year’s committee is comprised of Dan McGuire of Nebraska (chairman), John Daughenbaugh of Colorado, Jeff Eschmeyer of Ohio, Sarah Lloyd of Wisconsin, Jeremy Scherler of Oklahoma, David Teigen of North Dakota, and Gail Temple of South Dakota. States are represented on the policy committee on a rotating basis.
“The Policy Committee members are essential to NFU, as they are tasked with the huge responsibility of helping to create the grassroots policy that we advocate for during the course of the year,” said NFU President Roger Johnson. “This is particularly critical this year, as we discuss policy regarding the 2012 Farm Bill. We only get the opportunity to shape the federal farm policy once every few years, so we must make sure that we focus our efforts on the portions of the farm bill that will most benefit our members.”
“Farmers Union is truly a member-driven organization, which is what separates us from many other groups,” said Johnson. “The only way that this works is if you have members willing to stand up and take the lead on creating that policy. The Policy Committee is a dedicated, knowledgeable group that will go through our policy book page by page to ensure that NFU policy is based on what makes sense for our members.”
Over the next several days, staff members of other organizations will present their own policies and priority issues to the group to ensure they have a broader working knowledge of the issues as they revise NFU’s organizational policy.
“It is very important to ensure that members of the Policy Committee are fully informed and have the necessary background in certain issues,” said Johnson. “Agriculture is a very complex field and it is important to ensure that those who are involved in writing our policy understand the intricacies of the issues and know how they affect family farmers and ranchers.”
This week is the first part of a two-step process. The second part of the process will take place in March during NFU’s convention. During the convention, any Farmers Union member may propose changes to the policy. The committee then considers those proposals and submits a final copy of the suggested policy to the state delegates at the convention for consideration and adoption. NFU’s 110th Anniversary Convention will take place on March 4-7, in Omaha, Neb. Visit www.nfu.org/convention for more details.
Source: NFU
Posted by Northern Ag Network
