Trip to Minneapolis!

Today, I have for you a review of my trip to Minneapolis with Jeff about a week ago, but FIRST--

I understand some people have had issues getting my blog to "show up" on their RSS feeds, such as Feedly or BlogLovin'. I think I finally have the tech side of this figured out so you could find Prairie Sun Life on your blog feeds. Try copy/pasting this link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ThePrairieSunLife   It seems to be working so far. If you continue to have trouble, please let me know! I don't want to miss anyone!

Now, on to the Minneapolis trip!

As I mentioned in my most recent Weekly Review post, Jeff and I traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota for the National Farmers Union Convention. The Convention was held March 4-8 at the Radisson Blu- Mall of America hotel and convention center. We had a nice trip getting together with Farmers Union friends and colleagues. We also saw a lot of the Mall of America, and I had a chance to meet up with a blogging friend, Jessie. Read on for the details!

The convention was held at the Radisson Blu- MOA. This was a really nice hotel, and very modern in aesthetic. It was also attached to the Mall via skyway. It was a nice host site in that it was big enough and had many nice amenities. Personally, I would have actually preferred not to be attached to MOA and to have had more opportunity to be outside. The Mall of America "experience" wore off quickly. It is still just a mall...

My friend Tom lounges in one of these suspended pods they had in the lobby of the hotel. Very modern, indeed!

Anyway, the committee that I am on- Next Generation Advisory Council- presented our Strategic Plan to the NFU Board of Directors on Saturday morning. We have spent about a year working on this and had some really great suggestions for moving NFU forward with the "next generation" of farmers, ranchers, and consumers. Our ideas fell into three main themes: Membership, Leadership, and Mentorship. As a Council, we were all very pleased to see and experience positive reactions from the Board after our presentation.

I wore this necklace that I made for my presentation. Each tab has one of the brands that have been used on our family farm over time. I wanted a reminder to myself that it's not without respect to the past that we move forward.

I had a few other meetings throughout the weekend and enjoyed some of the keynote speakers and fundraising events before flying out on Monday. Jeff was elected as a Delegate to represent Montana Farmers Union, so he stayed on for the policy portion of the Convention. It sounds like there were a lot of differing opinions about policy and proposed changes. Ultimately, one thing I really love about Farmers Union on a State and National level is that we as members have the opportunity to argue policy and use a truly democratic process to build our position and give voice to the whole. I am really glad Jeff had the opportunity to serve as a Delegate and represent our State. I know he did a good job, even if I wasn't there to see it in person.

There were many speakers at Convention that addressed the gathering before policy began. I was sure to catch Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack speak. I may break down some of what he spoke about in a separate post because there was a lot that is very relevant to Agriculture, obviously. I always enjoy hearing what Secretary Vilsack has to say and I appreciate the work he has done as our Secretary of Ag.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack addresses the Convention.

A major highlight of the trip for me was simply gathering and getting together with some of our Farmers Union friends, from near and far. A group of us shared several meals and lots of free time together and it was just wonderful to be together. Several times I remarked that I hadn't laughed that much in a long, long time. To me, that's another aspect of what makes Farmers Union special- you become family with these people over time. I know that, even though some of my friends live in separate states, they will be there for me for years to come, and vice versa.

Two of our close friends, Bryan and Jennifer, are from Minnesota and took us out to some fun Minneapolis restaurants while we were there. One being Spoon and Stable, which was sort of a fine dining restaurant with innovative menu. We sampled a wide variety of dishes from their menu and shared them all among the table. My favorite out of everything was a dessert item called Honey and Cream Cake-- sooooooo good! Some of their menu can be pricey, but you could always go just for dessert and drinks if you're in the area. Make sure you call ahead for a reservation, though!

The other restaurant they took us to was a Thai restaurant called Sen Yai Sen Lek. This restaurant is part of the Minnesota Cooks: Food From The Farm collective. The Thai food was really good-- exactly what one wants from a Thai restaurant. We shared some spring rolls and each ordered our own lunch plates. I had a dish called Pad Bai Gra Prow with chicken. It was like a Thai spiced ground chicken with vegetables over rice, and the entire thing was topped with a fried egg. Soooooo delicious! This restaurant was also very affordable. I'd highly recommend it if you are in the Cities and hankering for some Thai! Plus, you know that anything from the Minnesota Cooks group is going to be really good farm to table food.

Another major highlight of the trip for me was meeting a fellow blogger- Jessie from The Right Fits. We have been following each others blogs for a long time, so it was really great to meet in person! Jessie is also a runner (she runs much more than I do!) and has a vizsla!! We met up for a walk near downtown Minneapolis, together with her dog Matilda the vizsla. It was so great to meet, get to know one another, get some exercise, get out of MOA, learn about and see Minneapolis from a local, and to see a beautiful Vizsla!!! Thanks, Jessie, for the meet up! You are the embodiment of "Minnesota Nice!" Readers, if you like reading about running, the Twin Cities, and/or Vizslas, definitely check out The Right Fits! Jessie does a really wonderful job!

Matilda, Jessie, and me over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis!
Thanks, Jessie, for sharing this photo with me!

While Harvey couldn't come to Minneapolis to meet Jessie and Matilda, he did send his love in the form of a gift. Harvey picked out a toy from his favorite made in Montana dog toy company- West Paw Designs. It's a grizzly bear. I delivered it to Matilda when I saw her. It looks like she likes it!

Matilda enjoys her new dog toy, from Harvey.
Photo credit to Jessie from The Right Fits. 

Well, it was a really great trip to Minneapolis and I hope to make it back there sometime soon. It's an easy city to fly to from Great Falls as we actually have a direct flight! I hope you enjoyed reading a little bit about what we did on our trip. Have you ever traveled to the Twin Cities?

NFU Convention in Wichita, KS

Did you have to take U.S. Government when you were in high school? I distinctly remember struggling to sit through that class my senior year, interjecting the occasional eyeroll into my teacher's boring spiel about different branches of government or whatever the topic of the day may have been. I was probably thinking ahead to my next track meet, or what I would be doing with friends over the weekend. Anything but considering how our government operated. I didn't enjoy that class and I struggled to see how I fit in to the success of the American political system as a seventeen year old in Iowa. 

Now, I wish I could go back to high school government class and re-learn everything I've forgotten! Now, I'm witnessing how government and political process works first-hand. 

For about four days earlier this week, I was in Wichita, KS at the National Farmers Union Convention. I was representing Montana Farmers Union as a Delegate, elected at our own state convention last fall. If you want to read the speech I delivered at our State convention, you can read it HERE.   I gave the speech as sort of a wrap up to the experience Jeff and I had with the FUE program we participated in, but it had the unintended result of working as somewhat of a campaign speech that got me elected as a Delegate to the National convention. 

In fact, our chief lobbyist for Montana Farmers Union had approached my husband to ask if he would consider being a delegate. He declined, as the trip is always in the middle of calving, and said that I would probably be interested, which I was. So that's how I got my name in the ring. There were five of us who ran and we each stood up and told a bit about ourselves and why we thought we would be a good Delegate. Out of the five of us who ran, three of us were elected to attend National along with two of our MFU Board members, our State President, and a Youth Delegate. Our State Membership Director was also present for the trip. It was an awesome group! 

Group photo of the Montana Delegation, taken at the Evening for Education Gala.
Pretty good looking bunch!

I had attended the previous year's NFU Convention in Santa Fe as part of the FUE Leadership Training agenda, but it was completely different to attend as a Delegate. The main responsibility I held as a Delegate was to participate in the adoption of National Farmers Union Policy. The Montana Delegation as a whole, held the task of ensuring our state policies were concurrent with national policy and recommend changes if need be. We were able to stand up to the microphone and voice our own opinions as we saw fit, and also voted on key issues throughout the proceedings. 

Laura Ginsburg was a member of the Rules and Credentials Committee in addition to serving as a Delegate.

Several of our Montana Delegation approached the mike and stated a few words here and there, whether in favor or opposition of a particular change or section of policy. It was really cool to be part of democracy happening, and truly from a grassroots level. I also found that I really enjoyed utilizing Parliamentary Procedure, and observing how that works. 

My dear friend, Bryan Klabunde of Minnesota, takes to the mic to discuss issues pertaining to raw and unpasteurized milk.
Way to go, Bryan!

Another Montanan, Jake Fagan, and I also met with the Next Generation Advisory Council for the first time while in Whichita. We were both selected to be on this national committee that will advise the NFU board on how to attract new, young, and beginning farmers to Farmers Union, train them for leadership, and keep them involved, etc. It was the very first meeting of a brand new committee, so the first meeting was spent largely going over logistics. We are still refining exactly what we as a committee will do and we're even planning on changing the name of the group. Nevertheless, it was so exciting to be in a room of creative, passionate people who really have a thing for farming and working together! Totally inspiring. I can't wait for this group to continue moving forward. 

The biggest takeaway I had from this past week was simply that when focusing on what we all have in common, we can do great things. Bringing people together who are passionate about agriculture and Rural America is a good thing.  It was also simply wonderful to see some of the people who I have gotten to know through FUE and Farmers Union, who have become very dear friends, and also to get to know some new friends even better- Laura and Jake, for example. I literally have not laughed so much in a long, long time as I did while in Wichita, and that's due to spending quality time with some funny, amazing, intelligent people. I returned home feeling charged up and empowered to continue moving forward within this organization, and knowing that I have a strong network of friends throughout the country who feel the same way. 

NFU President Roger Johnson addresses the Delegation before proceedings began.
The other people are members of the National Policy Committee.
The Montana Delegation was seated in the front row, so this was my view for the entirety of policy debate! Awesome to be right in the action!!

When I got back to school on Wednesday afternoon, just in time for track practice, I was feeling excited about how the previous four days had gone but also very tired from travel. It also turned out that I would be the only coach available to coach about 20 high school kids at practice that day. I began practice by apologizing for having missed so many days of practice and explained where I had been. One kid asked me, incredulously, "You mean you were, like, doing government stuff?" And I replied by explaining that at the time, Government was not a class I enjoyed, but now I was sure glad I had that background because it gave me the framework to make this convention the success that it was. 

What can I say-- I'm kind of a big deal. ;)

Thankful Thursday (On a Friday) ~ Thanks Farmers!

Hey Everyone!

Thanks for stopping by today's Thankful Thursday post on my blog!

Yes, you read that right, and no, today is not Thursday. It is actually Friday today; I'm in delay for posting my weekly Thankful Thursday post. I spent the better portion of the last seven days away from home out of my normal routine while in Wichita, KS at the National Farmers Union Convention. I did arrive back home on Wednesday afternoon, but everyone knows the first day after returning from a trip is mostly a waste. Hence the delay in blog posts.

Anyway, let's get to the matter at hand, which is this week's Thankful Thursday topic.

Did you know that March is National Agriculture Appreciation Month? Wednesday, March 18 was National Agriculture Day, in fact! You probably saw little memes and posts on the internet and social media telling you to thank a farmer and appreciate the Ag lifestyle. I'm going to continue that theme today, and I'm going to build it around some of the comments that our Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, gave in his speech at the NFU Convention earlier this week.

Some of you probably already know that I am a huge fan of Secretary Vilsack. He's from Iowa, as am I, and was fairly popular as a Governor there before moving on to become Secretary of Ag. What I really like about him is that he is genuinely concerned with finding solutions that bring people together, and also in helping people. He also states things as he sees them and doesn't come off as a phony politician. This is a characteristic I can appreciate, especially in today's political climate.

US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack addresses the National Farmers Union Convention.
Photo by Minnesota Farmers Union.

Secretary Vilsack offered many words of wisdom to the convention audience, but something he said early in his speech rang very true to me: "If you're not a farmer, you're delegating the responsibility of feeding your family to someone else." He went on to explain that this is a freedom and a liberty that we have in the US that many others worldwide do not enjoy. If you're not a farmer, you are counting on those of us who are farmers, fishers, and ranchers to provide sustenance for you and your family. That's a pretty big deal. If you eat, you depend on farmers. Secretary Vilsack also pointed out that in the United States, we spend about ten percent of our paycheck on food. In other countries, that percentage is much, much higher. Obviously, these are aggregate statistics and not the reality for every American household, but on the whole, to spend only 10% of our budget on food is really very good. We live in a great country and we have an outstanding agricultural system, filled with variety of producers, methods, and foodstuffs produced, and we should be thankful for that. We are lucky. 

Here's another reason to thank a farmer or rancher. American agriculture is a JOB CREATOR. Ag producers are directly influencing the economic growth rate in our nation and especially in rebuilding the rural economy. According to Secretary Vilsack's speech, the United States has seen sixty consecutive months of private sector job growth, which is an unprecedented stretch in our history. Can you think of any farmer who moved back home to a rural area in the past five years? I count myself in that demographic, in fact. Jeff and I are contributing to growing our rural economy, if for no other reason than simply existing and continuing to farm our land. I'm sure all of you can think of people who have taken up farming or gone back to farming in the past five years. Give them a pat on the back for helping with our nation's job growth!

The Secretary also spoke on some of my favorite USDA programs and intiatives, including SNAP benefits, the dietary guidelines, and many other topics. But, the line that stuck with me the most from his entire speech actually came about during the question period at the end. The general topic of conversation was about the diversity of agricultural styles and production methods in the US. Sometimes there is a tendency for ag producers to squabble with each other over who has the best methods, who is doing the most-right thing for the planet, who is feeding the most people, etc. Secretary Vilsack himself gave a line which, to me, was the overarching message of the entire convention: "Every minute we are fighting among our selves about agriculture is one minute we lose to advocate for agriculture to the public." Pretty big, right? In the end, we can and should all focus on what we have in common rather than how to hurt one another. What tools will help all of us. Leave your bias hats at the door and come to the table with ideas and solutions to work together.

There is a lot of negativity about agriculture in the media today. As we know, the media tends to focus on the negative instead of what we are doing right. Part of the mission of this blog is to continue to spread the positive messages of agriculture to my readers and hopefully beyond. If you are a farmer, thank another farmer for the work he or she does. If you're not a farmer, find one, and say thank you. Let's all say thank you and continue to work together to find ways to keep the American agricultural sector strong. 

Stay tuned to my blog for a few more posts pertaining to the NFU Convention over the next few days! :)

Next Generation Advisory Council

I have some exciting news to start this post: I applied for and was selected to be on a committee through National Farmers Union called the Next Generation Advisory Council. My friend Jennifer encouraged me to apply along with her and we both made the cut! The two of us, along with five others from around the country will be serving on the council. The mission of the council is as follows:

(The council) will serve in an advisory capacity. They will be called upon as a focus group to provide feedback on current programs and outreach, as well as proposed ideas for the future. For example, the Council could offer feedback on convention speakers, breakout sessions, brochure content, etc. to ensure that we are speaking to the "next generation" of Farmers Union members. 

So, with that brief explanation, I now enlist YOUR HELP, dear readers! I would love input from YOU as to what this Next Generation Advisory Council should try to accomplish, in your opinion. If you are involved in farming or agriculture, please consider what you would be looking for in an advocacy organization. If you're not involved directly in agriculture, but, say, you love food and you love supporting people who grow food, think about how you as a consumer could better interface with people who produce food. Here are a few questions to get you thinking and hopefully responding:

What are the best ways an organization can communicate with you?

What do you want an organization, particularly an Ag organization, to do for you?

What are some ways that people involved in agriculture can better connect with consumers?

As a consumer, what do you want to know about your food and your farmer?

When considering joining a new organization (of any kind), what are the biggest draws? biggest deterrents? 

What do you feel is the "next generation" of agriculture?

What do you think is the future of food and food advocacy?  Who are the producers and who are the consumers?

What is your overall opinion of farmers and agriculture? 

Where do you get information about farmers and agriculture?

Thinking specifically about National Farmers Union or Montana Farmers Union, what are some reasons you like the organization? What are some reasons you dislike the organization?

I would really LOVE to hear from any of you on these topics! Or, if you have anything else to say that I didn't specifically address above, please let me know! Feel free to comment here on the blog, comment in Facebook, or even email me at katie (dot) r (dot) adam (at) gmail (dot) com. My first meeting with this group is this Sunday morning as part of the National Farmers Union Convention in Wichita, KS. I can't wait to read your feedback!

COOL and Calendars!

With our involvement in Montana Farmers Union, and by extension, National Farmers Union, increasing over the past year, we have had the wonderful opportunity to meet many new people and to learn A LOT about how the organizations work for the farmers and ranchers they represent. This is especially true of our recent trip to Washington D.C.  One of the people we met was the Communications Director for National Farmers Union. He proposed working with us on an Op-Ed piece on the subject of COOL, or Country of Origin Labeling, with regards to meat. This was a great topic for us as ranchers, so we were happy to help.

Our collaborative effort was picked up by the Billings Gazette and ran in today's paper. You can also find the article and accompanying photo of me and Jeff at this online link to the article: http://billingsgazette.com/news/opinion/guest/guest-view-of-course-we-want-to-know-where-our/article_595e057e-2bb0-5721-ae4c-867325165924.html. Do any of my blog readers live in Billings? I am hopeful to receive a few hard copies of the paper, as we don't subscribe ourselves.

Another effort I personally have been involved with over the past year, is the Montana Farmers Union Women in Agriculture Calendar. The Education Director of Montana Farmers Union, and a photographer came out to our ranch last March and took some photos of me working with our herd during calving. Since then, they've had eleven other photo shoots with other Montana ag women, and I hear the calendars are coming together quite nicely! They are to be unveiled at the MFU Fall Convention coming up in a few weeks!!! Let me know in advance if you'd like to purchase a calendar. The proceeds from sales will go to fund women's education programs within Farmers Union.

Or, if you'd like to ATTEND THE MFU CONVENTION, CLICK HERE to be re-routed to their website and sign up.

D.C. Fly-In, Part One: The Legislative Experience

I have a lot of photos and a lot to process and write about our Washington D.C. trip. I'm going to have to break it down into several posts. After going through my photos, I think the best way to organize the trip into blog posts is into three segments: Legislative Experience, Tourist Experience, and Art and Design Experience.

I'll start with the Legislative Experience.

But first, let me back up a bit and remind everyone why we came to be in D.C. in the first place!

The D.C. Fly-In was the culmination of our Farmers Union Enterprises (FUE) Leadership Couples training experience that has lasted for about the past 18 months. If you can't remember what FUE or the program we were participating in was all about, check out THIS POST. Basically, we spent the past year or so attending Farmers Union conferences and events and participating in leadership training seminars along with three other couples-- one each from Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Walking in front of the Department of Agriculture building with some of our FUE friends.

The Department of Agriculture is a HUGE building.
I liked that they had corn planted out front! 

The Fly-In itself was National Farmers Union's annual lobbying event in Washington D.C. Farmers Union members and representatives from all 28 states where Farmers Union has a presence were in Washington for the Fly-In. Our group arrived a few days early for about a day and a half of more leadership training and informational meetings. Then, the last two and a half days were dedicated to the legislative process and how it pertains to agriculture and Farmers Union issues. The last day and a half specifically were spent actually meeting with representatives of Congress and the Senate (or their staff!) to advocate directly for issues affecting family farms across the country.

On the in-between-day on the Hill, as I'll call it, we as an entire National Farmers Union group, were addressed by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Gina McCarthy, and a woman named Ann Alonzo, who is the head of the Agriculture Marketing Service, as well as by National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson.  President Johnson and his staff outlined the four main issues we'd be discussing in our lobbying efforts the next day before we heard from the other three. I found Secretary Vilsack's remarks to be appropriate and well-thought-out, and I enjoyed hearing him speak most of all. He's great. Administrator McCarthy was an engaging speaker as well.

NFU President Roger Johnson

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack

Administrator McCarthy of the EPA

Ann Alonzo of the USDA

Moving on to the actual lobbying experience. Everyone with Farmers Union who was present for the Fly-In was divided into teams of 5 or so people, with each team assigned to several Senate/Congressional offices. We were to visit the offices and speak to the government official (or their staff) about our key issues, or drop off an informational hand-out if no one was available to meet with us.

We became very familiar with the Congress and Senate office buildings.

Jeff and I were in a small group with three other people from Montana including the Montana Farmers Union President, another Montana Farmers Union member from Great Falls, and a member of the Montana press (who was not a member of Farmers Union, just there to cover the story of our time in Washington.) We ended up visiting the offices of five different individuals-- a mix of Representatives and Senators. Of those five offices, the only time we met with an actual government official was when we visited the office of Senator Walsh of Montana. The rest of the time we spoke with office staff, usually the staffer responsible for Agriculture issues.

Jeff and I in the rotunda of the Longworth office building.

The issues we spoke about were identified and decided upon by the National Farmers Union board and included:

• COOL (Country of Origin Labeling)-- NFU is for keeping COOL laws as-is.
• RFS (Renewable Fuel Standard)-- NFU Is for maintaining status quo with RFS.
• TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership)-- NFU is skeptical of TPP in its current form.
• Rail Issues-- NFU is advocating on behalf of farmers for increased rail traffic for grain and for increased oversight from the STB (Surface Transportation Board) on the railroad. 

Throughout the process of meeting with the various offices and staff, and the Senator, it became apparent that Jeff has a real gift for leadership in these types of situations. He was very well-spoken and seemed really comfortable discussing the issues with anyone. As for myself, I was a little out of my comfort level, but with practice got better. I think my future with Farmers Union probably will not involve extensive lobbying in that form. Jeff rocked it though. 

Senate Hart Office Building.
Montana Senators Tester and Walsh both have their offices here.

Since we had a member of the local Montana Ag media in our group, Jeff and I did give a brief interview that was included in a few radio spots. Jeff was also interviewed by another person of the media and that story was released right after we got back. Hopefully everyone is happy with how we both answered our questions! I was a little nervous for the interview I did, even though it was brief! Did anyone catch any of our radio spots or the print interview anywhere?

One of the highlights for the business-side of the trip for me was attending the Golden Triangle Awards Ceremony on Tuesday evening of our trip. The Golden Triangle Awards are given by National Farmers Union to government officials who have done well to serve the Ag community in the past year. Many of the awards were handed out in person at the event. This meant we had a very front row view of many members of Congress and the Senate as they stopped by the party to receive their awards. I was most impressed with Nancy Pelosi (California), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Heidi Heitkamp (North Dakota), and of course, John Tester (Montana), our friend and neighbor. Jeff and I were also impressed with John Walsh (Montana) for the fact that he stayed at the party after giving his short acceptance speech and actually took some time to visit with people in the audience-- no one else had done that. Politics aside, he seemed like a nice and genuine man in-person.

Nancy Pelosi receives her Golden Triangle service award from NFU President Roger Johnson.

Sherrod Brown of Ohio about to receive his award.

Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota addresses the group.

There's so much more detail I could write about this trip and specifically about the legislative experience we had. I truly learned A LOT in-person about how government works. It was cool to be actively participating in democracy, advocating for family farms, and attempting to let our voices be heard. Even if I don't have a future in lobbying in this form, it was definitely worth the experience on many, many levels. I think Jeff and I both realized the potential for leadership that we have within this organization, which is overall, the ultimate goal of the entire experience.

Will either of us have a future in politics?!

Welcome to FUE!

Add Farmers Union Enterprises to the list of time commitments and interests Jeff and I now embrace.  Have you heard of Farmers Union Enterprises before? What about Farmers Union Industries? I myself had heard of Montana Farmers Union and National Farmers Union, but not of Farmers Union Enterprises or Industries.  MFU, NFU, and FUE… Lots of acronyms here, folks.

 

FUE grew out of collaboration between five states: Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Originally, each of these five states’ Farmers Unions had put up some money to start a business that would benefit Farmers Union members in their states.  The original business was a rendering facility.  Now, there are several more businesses in industry and manufacturing that FUE is ultimately behind. Each involves agriculture.  Here is the website for Farmers Union Industries- http://fuillc.com/ Check out some of the businesses they have! Besides the rendering facility, there is also a metal works company and a great cat litter called Swheat Scoop (made from wheat by-products). 

Image source: www.walmartimages.com

 

FUE was also the brains and original funding behind two farm-to-table restaurants in the Washington D.C. area, Founding Farmers and Farmers and Fishers. 

Founding Farmers Restaurant

Farmers Fishers Bakers

Definitely going to have to try to get into one or both of those restaurants next time I am in DC!

 

Jeff and I are members of MFU as of December, so less than a year. I signed up at the Women’s Conference I attended last fall, although I think we were likely to join anyway, as we believe in the ideals Farmers Union embraces. Somehow we made an impression on the leaders of MFU, as we were asked to represent Montana in the Farmers Union Enterprises Leadership Program.

 

Farmers Union Enterprises at some point decided to begin a leadership training program dedicated to young couples and families.  Each year, there is one couple or family from each state selected to participate in the leadership program.  We are the new couple from Montana. It seems as though the commonalities among all the couples are a commitment to Farmers Union in their state, and some sort of demonstrated leadership potential.  The hope is that couples who complete the year-and-a-half of training will take on a leadership role of some sort in Farmers Union and/or in their local communities.  I think Farmers Union, in general, is seeing an aging population among its long-time leadership, so I think another purpose of the program we are in is to encourage younger membership and younger leaders to step up.

 

We will meet with the other four couples in the leadership program approximately once per quarter, usually corresponding with another Farmers Union meeting or convention in one of the five states.  We attend that function as part of the larger group of attendees, and then spend one or two days in intensive leadership training courses with our small group and our coordinator.  This time, we attended the MFU mid-year meeting in Bozeman, and then spent time training on time management, conflict resolution, and just getting to know each other.

 

There was also a great session in which the Farmers Union Presidents from each of our five states were present for a question and answer session.  We got to ask them about anything we wanted. Jeff got in a question about the prospect of the Farm Bill, and I got in a question on the outlook of women in leadership of Farmers Union. One thing is certain, the Farmers Union Presidents of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin each have a lot of personality! They were entertaining as well as very encouraging and interesting. It was clear that they are thrilled with the FUE leadership program we are in, which was a great affirmation.

 

Jeff and I are very excited to participate in FUE and feel honored to represent Montana for the next eighteen months or so.  The other couples and families we met all seemed like fantastic people with whom we had much in common.  We are really looking forward to getting to know each of them as time goes on, and hopefully establish some life-long connections throughout the Upper Midwest. I am also excited about learning more about Farmers Union—I did not grow up within the organization as Jeff did.  My early impressions are great- this is definitely an organization Jeff and I feel like we can support and be part of.  It’s very clear that their primary concern is family farm operations. 

 

I am planning to do a series of posts relating to Farmers Union, so stay tuned for more.  There will be at least one more post in which I’ll write more specifically about the conference we just attended in Bozeman, entitled, “From Seed to Table.”