A low-key policy session of
American Farm Bureau Federation delegates this week opted to raise annual
national dues for members to $5, from $4. The Hagstrom report points out that
delegates voted 298 to 50 in favor of the dues increase, but only after
rejecting an amendment to limit the increase to 50 cents. The dues increase
required a two-thirds vote of the delegates, but it won by 85.6 percent. It’s
been many years since AFBF has raised national dues, and President Zippy Duvall
said the organization has a $1.5 million deficit because it has lost income
from “benefit programs.” Duvall was also reelected to a two-year term Tuesday
by delegates in Nashville. Tennessee, following the AFBF annual convention.
After the policy deliberations, the membership passed a recommendation to the
board that Farm Bureau explore creating a national health insurance program.
Duvall says a health insurance program could both be a benefit to members and
an income generator for the organization.
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