Zippy Duvall replaced longtime American Farm Bureau Federation president Bob Stallman this year and that the tough economic outlook means that it is now time for some of the “more than 200 speeches” he’s planning to give on behalf of agricultural interests in the near future.
Duvall suggests a tone change for the organization, as well. He said his key message will be that the Farm Bureau is going to need to become more aggressive to defend programs that will be more important to farmers as other income sources shrivel, Bloomberg reported.
“We’re going to know really soon whether the farmer has enough safety net to help through hard times,” Duvall, a poultry, hay and cattle producer from Georgia, told Arkansas Farm Bureau members in Little Rock on Tuesday last week.
Some key goals include getting cottonseed added to farm-bill programs (popular in Arkansas, a cotton state), Bloomberg reported, as well as getting the Trans-Pacific Partnership through Congress (less popular in Arkansas, thanks to rice provisions that are less than what they want) to boost exports are top priorities for the year.
The report also notes that Duvall said it is not too early to begin discussing the next farm bill, which would be due in 2019 and that, “If we don’t, we’ll be playing catch up” against other groups, some of which would like subsidy cuts.”
Citing the National Rifle Association and AARP as examples of organizations where grassroots members make their influence felt in Washington, he called for Farm Bureau members to become more vocal with members of Congress to hold lawmakers accountable.
“When we say that we need you to speak on issues, [we ask] that you take two minutes on your phone to respond to our request.” he said.
Bloomberg suggested, somewhat strangely, that would be a different approach for Farm Bureau, “which in some regions functions more like a Rotary Club that sells insurance than an activist group ready to rumble with GMO opponents and animal-welfare advocates -- and, a shift, Bloomberg notes approvingly, that “matches the times, with both farm income and the government’s appetite for aid shrinking.”
Well, Duvall is likely being advised to be active and visible as he takes the reins of his widely different state membership interests. Certainly, producer returns and incomes will be important. In addition, he also may want to spend at least some of his efforts buffing up the image of the U.S. agriculture industry his group represents, which critics say is too industrial, too dependent on government, not protective enough of U.S. land, water or air -- or, conscious enough of consumer health in the United States and overseas. Certainly, the AFBF has traditionally faced no lack of controversial issues and Duvall likely can expect an even broader future array of concerns as he settles in to his new job, Washington Insider believes.