Farmers Union Convention Speech

This morning, Jeff and I had the great honor of speaking at the annual Montana Farmers Union Convention. We spoke about the FUE Leadership Couples experience we partook in over the past eighteen months, culminating in the Legislative Fly-In this past September. Following is the written copy of my portion of the speech we presented to the gathering. 

Photo courtesy of Carol Bangs.

When I look around this room, I see smiling and welcoming faces of family and friends. I see a room full of farmers, representing Montana’s very diverse Agricultural system looking back at me. But I’m willing to bet that some of us in this room haven’t always been farmers. Personally, I fall into that category. Despite growing up in one of our nation’s top agriculture states, Iowa, and attending one of the best Agriculture Universities, Iowa State University, I knew almost nothing about farming. Even though both my parents grew up on farms, and I had memories of visiting the family farm when I was a very young kid, I had little appreciation for food source. Speaking of my college days, you could argue that during those four-and-a-half years, I was actively trying to avoid farm life, in all its various iterations.

So how did I get to where I am today? That’s what I’m going to speak about this morning. How I went from being a citified Midwesterner to an Agriculture Proud Montanan, and how friends, my husband, family, and Montana Farmers Union helped me along the way.

Even though I grew up in an Ag state, I was more or less a city-kid. I had little connection to family farms on either side of my family. My school contained no FFA or 4-H—I had never even heard of either of those programs until I went to college. The extent of my knowledge of food supply was that my family got food from the grocery store and occasionally the farmers market. In college, I studied Apparel Design and French. My majors had much more to do with an urban way of life, which was reinforced by my internship in New York City and study abroad in Lyon, France—both big cities. I thought my future would be in a metropolis somewhere. 

Later in my college years, I started dating a nice guy from rural Iowa. He had grown up on a sheep farm and had the life-goal of being a mixed-animal vet, living on a farm somewhere away from the city, and also tending a small livestock operation of some sort himself. We stayed together longer than we should have but when we eventually called it off for good, one of the main reasons was because I could not see myself living in the country. By this time, I had spent lots more time in cities. I thought I was a city girl. I wanted absolutely nothing to do with living rurally.

Those of you who know where I live now, should be laughing.

In terms of Agriculture, my life has taken a complete turnaround since my college days. I am now married to Jeff Bangs, and we farm and ranch in about as rural of a place you could imagine. We’re about a half-hour drive from the nearest town, and an hour from the nearest WalMart. (Why proximity to WalMart is a metric for rural living is another societal indication I’m not getting into today!) But I had to learn, over time, how to be OK with letting myself live in such a rural place.

I had decided early in my relationship to Jeff that if I was going to give this farming thing a go, I had better learn what the heck I was getting myself into. Over the years we dated, I visited the farm where I would eventually live many times. We talked at length about what life would be like for us together on the northern Montana prairie. On my visits, I participated in whatever farm-related task he was up to, as often as it was practical (and probably some times when it wasn’t practical—Sorry, Tom!). Jeff was always so very patient in explaining to me why they do the things they do on the farm. Tom and Carol, who are now my in-laws, have answered the same questions from me over and over and over, but always with grace and a smile.The more I learned about farming and the way the Bangs family farmed, and the more I grew to love Jeff, the easier it was to move from acceptance into appreciation of farm life for myself.

Through this family, I learned that farming is never easy. It’s seldom convenient. It’s often messy. Farming can be very dull, sometimes tedious, and always a lot of hard work. But farming is also self-directed. It is liberating, rewarding, and beautiful. Farming is a legacy, and most of all, it is essential. As farmers, we have the privilege of providing food for an expanding world, and we’re lucky enough to do this while also providing for our own families.

This leads me to one of the reasons why I have grown to find another home of sorts in Montana Farmers Union. 

Shortly after that, I heard about the very first ever Montana Farmers Union Women’s Conference. My in-laws had been active members of MFU for many years, so when the pamphlet for this conference came, Carol encouraged me to attend. I am so glad I did. I walked in the doors to the conference having no idea what to expect, but left feeling empowered and encouraged by the other attendees and by Delisa, who had run the show. These people were so warm and inviting, it felt like family already. I promptly signed Jeff and myself up for a two-year membership to MFU.

Shortly after that, Jeff and I received a phone call from MFU President Allan Merrill about something called FUE Leadership Couples. Wanting more information before committing Jeff and I to this year-and-a-half-long shindig, I had talked to Harley Danielson, who’s in charge of the FUE Leadership program (and there’s no saying No to Harley!)Shortly thereafter, we found ourselves undertaking this great FUE experience, which has only solidified our place among the Farmers Union community. 

You may have already noticed that this year’s FUE group is here, attending our Convention for their fall get-together. WE had the great pleasure of meeting and interacting with this group earlier this summer at our combined meeting in Bayfield, WI. They are certainly a memorable group and I encourage everyone to say hello to them, and of course to Harley and Irene.

Our FUE experience has been nothing short of outstanding. We learned so much about Farmers Union, about all three legs of the Triangle—Education, Cooperation, and Legislation. We traveled to some pretty outstanding places, including Bayfield, WI, Bozeman, MT, Santa Fe, NM… and Minot, ND. At each place we visited, we were able to take in some of the local culture and also gained a greater understanding of Agriculture in that area.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention specifically the capstone of the FUE experience, the DC Fly-In. We spent most of a week in Washington, learning about and lobbying for Farmers Union causes. One thing I will always remember about this trip is that almost every person we met in Washington who was involved with Farmers Union wanted to know who we were, where we were from, and what we did before proceeding on with business. They asked us these things and genuinely seemed to care about our responses. Whether it was Education Director Maria Miller or President Roger Johnson or anyone else we met, I felt that they wanted to know who we were, that they cared about us and were truly happy we were there. This to me truly embodies part of what the spirit of Farmers Union is about. 

I won’t forget the time we spent in Washington D.C.  It was this trip that culminated the training we had received, and truly opened our eyes to what we could do for this organization and how we fit into its future.

What truly made the entire FUE experience special was the people. We sometimes refer to our Farmers Union friends as feeling like family. I think Jeff and I agree that the other couples we met in our FUE group do feel like family in many ways. We have a lot in common with the other couples in our group and found right away that we can spend hours in deep discussion after a day of meetings and training. We know that even though we may not see these couples and their families often, we will always have a special connection, will always be a phonecall away to bounce ideas off one another.

Needless to say, we were hooked into Montana Farmers Union, and we’re happy with that. The more events we attend, the more we are affirmed that this is the organization for us, beginning with the first ever MFU Women’s Conference and now having completed the FUE experience. The people we have met through our experiences with MFU feel like family, and in some cases they are family.  I believe there is truly no greater organization advocating for the family farmer in Montana. Even someone who grew up with only a vague sense of Agriculture can come around to the bright side, through a little help from friends, family, and Farmers Union.