National Farmers Organization is celebrating our 70 years birthday. From humble beginnings in Northwest Missouri and Southwest Iowa, what began as an idea driven by drought in those areas of the country along with falling farm prices-especially for cattle and hog producers, to where we are today.
Something had to be done under those farm conditions and some early 1950s era farm policies, because the future of the American farmer and rancher looked unsustainable.
The first thought of throwing a dollar in a hat and using the money to send someone to Washington D.C. to lobby for a more common sense approach to farm policy versus the newly enacted flexible price supports proved to be a waste of both time and dollars!
Finally realizing a new approach was needed, a membership agreement was drafted based on the Copper-Volstead Act of 1922. That act simply gave farmers the privilege of organizing for the purpose of pricing their products at the farm gate.
From this point, the organization rapidly spread its wings into new states while national offices were set up in Corning, Iowa. Commodity departments were formed to handle and market grain, cattle, and hogs. Shortly thereafter, the dairy department was added and then later, a specialty department.
We have all witnessed a tremendous amount of change from our early days of NFO.
As a member myself for 56 years, I am proud of our former leaders for having the foresight to recognize the importance of producers working together for the betterment of all, regardless of what you produce. I am also proud of the fact that we have not merged or been bought out by anyone and still stand on the original principles of what NFO was founded on.
The world around us has spent eternity trying to keep farmers divided and pit one producer against the other and one commodity against the other. The result of that is the very thing that has destroyed our rural communities, our rural infrastructure, and way of life as we once knew it. The mergers, consolidations, and often collapse of the businesses that we rely on is never-ending and making it harder for us as producers to survive.
Market access and transportation costs continue to plague us. Cost of production continues to skyrocket with no end in sight.
We are all consumers, and we all love to eat. We are all also guilty of taking our food supply for granted. And by we, I mean the general public, our elected officials, corporate America, and everyone that expects dinner on the table tomorrow.
After 70 years as a farm organization, we must continue to be in a position to market and provide risk management services for your farming operations. Achieving cost of production-plus a reasonable profit does not get any easier.
A huge thank you to all of our loyal producers and staff for everything you do on a daily basis—and looking forward to the next 70 years.
Until next time — Be Safe and May God Bless.
