Editorial: Leveraging our grassroots influence: For positive results

Issue Date: December 16, 2009

By Paul Wenger
CFBF President

Paul Wenger

Farm Bureau is grassroots. If there is any term that has been the mantra of Farm Bureau, it is this word—grassroots. It defines what has led the California Farm Bureau to celebrate 91 years of existence as the single largest "general" agricultural membership organization.

Farm Bureau members are not "required to belong" to Farm Bureau, as they would if we were a union or similar entity. Our funding comes from you—our members—because we need to "earn" your support. Our members realize that we can accomplish much more together than apart. Farm Bureau does not possess the certainty of funding that many of our commodity associations enjoy. While this can be challenging for planning and staffing needs, it also allows Farm Bureau to advocate for issues that transcend singular commodity concerns.

Farm Bureau, if allowed, can be the glue to coalesce the many commodity-specific groups into a more cohesive and effective advocate for all our needs. The breadth and diversity of California agriculture is what makes our industry the largest in the nation and the fifth largest agricultural economy in the world. However, it is this same diversity that creates our toughest challenges. It is easy to focus on "what affects my commodity" thinking, which allows for a "divided we fall" result.

We sometimes fail to fully appreciate the challenges our neighbors down the street or across our state are facing—the individuality and strength of character that defines farmers and ranchers also makes it difficult to cooperatively battle issues foreign to a particular commodity or region.

Proposition 2 is a perfect example of one segment of agriculture being singled out and the rest not participating at a level to adequately assure their economic survival. If California agriculture is not going to "just survive," but prosper, we must unify our resources and efforts to be the formidable force that all growers deserve. The Endangered Species Act, invasive pests and diseases, quarantine and food safety issues affect commodities in dramatically different ways. There are, however, issues we can begin to work on today that impact all family farms large and small.

Water is THE issue that affects everyone who farms or ranches in California. If we do not solve our water supply and delivery quandary, the effects of this lack of planning will be devastating for our entire state and will have agricultural, municipal, industrial and environmental consequences.

The possible cancellation of the Williamson Act is a short-sighted budget move that must be solved before it's too late. With emphasis toward a permanent subvention funding solution for our counties, we can ensure that farmers and ranchers won't be forced to sell land simply to pay their property taxes.

The estate tax is being debated in Congress at this very moment. Congressman Mike Thompson's bill, HR 3524, would have given certainty to family farmers and ranchers wanting to pass their property to the next generation without facing a stifling tax burden—a burden that might force farmers to sell part, or all, of their agricultural operation just to pay a tax that is both unfair and immoral.

The challenges facing farmers and ranchers are daunting but—if we work together and focus our efforts strategically—we can bridge the gap that has been created through singling out commodities. We can in unity reach out to our urban consumers. We can leverage our numbers to educate our legislative members.We can be the economic stimulus our state is searching for. Who better to reinvigorate our economy than farmers and ranchers? We have the infrastructure in place to grow, pack, process, ship, transport and market a host of California farm goods.

When I was elected president of our organization this past week, I understood immediately that this was a call to action—my call to action. Along with First Vice President Kenny Watkins, Second Vice President Jamie Johansson and our board of directors, we commit ourselves to focusing our efforts to working cooperatively to enhance the profitability of our dynamic agricultural industry. With your help and support—at the grassroots level—we will succeed.

On behalf of our CFBF Board of Directors, officers and staff, I want to congratulate and thank Doug Mosebar for his 20 years of service and dedication to the Farm Bureau family.

Permission for use is granted, however, credit must be made to the California Farm Bureau Federation when reprinting this item. Top