Master D Woodland State of Affairs b

don't talk a lot about that we're not really organizing people we're organizing production and that's where the strength lies and it doesn't take long to analyze the fact that in 1950 there were 6.5 million farmers on the land today there's less than three and so the volume within the structure of the organization has had a steady positive growth but we haven't been satisfied we have tried to analyze why we have not been able to appeal to those who may be standing around on the perimeter and watching we have become involved in some training our executive people have so that they could function more completely our staff is undergone training so that they can fulfill their role more completely and most recently we felt to need to ask someone else what we could do to be more successful because we knew the race was on and we sensed that the climate that has been spoken off here today by those who stood here was fast approaching and that we needed and we've talked about time running out and we have cried wolf and we know the dangers of that but we sense that this climate was building rapidly and that if there was some way that we could expedite and move our programs more rapidly to serve fill that need that we had that responsibility to do that we've never had a an official poll within the organization conducted and we chose to do that about a month ago little over a month we have the final results of that we have not been able to completely analyze and determine the direction but we know now what farmers and ranchers want 70% and I'm gonna give you more detailed figures let me back off we pick 10 states the heavy agriculture Midwest states and in those 10 states we went to the national directors and said we would like to have a list of 150 farmers and ranchers that have a gross income of $100,000 or more we want to know what those people are thinking we want 50 of them to be members of the organization we want a hundred of them to be potential members the list came in 1500 calls were made by a professional opinion research group who had had some affiliation with Gallup and they called 500 of these people at random to give us that input that would help us perform more completely these are some of the results that I can give you there's much more that will be analyzing and extracting from there the one issue and people this is a hard one to swallow I knew it but I never didn't want to admit it the problem that we have is an image problem it isn't what we are but it's what people think we are because they don't know what we are now that's a challenge to take and change that and that's a slow long hard process how do you do it fast you don't seventy percent of those people in that group said they want collective bargaining they want representation at the marketplace they want some legislative protection and what they don't know is we got what they want and somehow we have got to reach out there and get those people that poll said thirty percent would never become involved in this organization regardless but I venture to say if those 70 percent do half of the thirty will too so it's out there for the asking if we can reach them now we have to figure out some way to do it and as one professional person told me not too long ago you have the best kept secret in America when we were talking about collective bargaining he was telling me privately what farmers and ranchers needed and I said that's exactly what we got and he said you got the best-kept secret in America well as we analyzed these figures we're ready to take the next step we think we know what we're going to do there are some things that are standing in our way you know you only do what resources will allow you to do and to change that image it takes some type of a PR a public relations firm that helps now they can't do it all but they can't help when the scary thing is is if you become involved with one of them for a year it'll probably cost you from three to four hundred thousand dollars well I don't know what's it costing us now not doing what needs to be done we have to analyze all the pros and cons and then make our decision as to the next step we will start the first of January interviewing looking at listening to PR firms and their suggestions on how to improve the image of the organization and it goes back years and years and years what someone said they thought they heard someone say but still it's embedded there that it must be dealt with and we're going to accept that challenge and we're gonna move in that direction well are we asking too much when we talk about cost of production plus a profit are we being unrealistic are we asking for more than we are allowed are we being greedy I want to give you some statistics to compare so that you'll have some idea of our feeling and reaction to that question in 1965 the consumer disposable income for food in this country was 20% in 1975 it had dropped to 18% and in 1980 it had dropped to 14% and when you visit with the press who are consumer oriented the first thing they say is if you're successful it's going to cost the American people more for their food and I submit that's true and it's about time they have got so much for so little for so long they feel it's a god-given right to protect it now we talk about the rate of inflation if it hadn't have been for agriculture not willingly but because they had no alternative to supply food to the American consumer inflation would have been much greater than the percentages that you hear and read about but the reason that it was at a level that you read and hear about is because your farm debt put food on the table and your farm debt allowed them to buy that second car and that boat and that summer home and I submit that it must come to an end you know our wives like a new rug on the floor and they like a new stove and a new couch along with other people's wives and we have the responsibility to see that we provide for them as others do and I don't think any consumer really expects us to feed them below our cost but I think they don't have a way to deal with the issue if they so chose how would they do it if that consumer there on Main Street had some desire to see that you got more for your meat and your milk and your grains how would they do it they have no way or no system and the only way it can become a reality is if you design the system and then you extract it from that first Handler and as you extract it there then they participate in paying for the food that sets on the table are you up to the challenge a hundred a hundred and fifty thousand farm units left the farm in 1981 there is 12 square miles of agriculture land prime land being converted to non agriculture use every day this is our industry this is mine it's yours and it used to be heard as we talked about the impossibility of dealing with the economic issue well if we can't make it on the farm we'll go to town and we'll get another job well I'll tell you the jobs aren't there people you're not going to town because the unemployment line has already formed and it has come time that you're going to have to take a stand and not allow that transfer of ownership to take place because of lack of adequate income and how are you going to do it well tomorrow you'll get into the details of how but I want to touch very quickly very briefly on some things that I think can keep this from happening we have our departments their staffs they have that capability of performing a function that you and I are wanting if in fact you recognize that you have need for an appendectomy in your family you don't take the youngster and lie about on the table and get the medical book in one hand the knife and the other and go to work on them you don't do that you go to a specialist who is trained in that field one who knows how to get results and deal with the issue and that you must understand - is a field where a specialist must step in and give that protection in the marketplace that that 70% in that survey said they wanted they needed they couldn't go there by themselves and as we look at the capabilities of the department and their successes there are many we can talk about some of them we've had our share of disappointments as well but I recall a story that was told to me just the other day by one that participated in an interview Howard I'm going to talk about you for just a minute if you don't mind Howard Fischer was called in to an interview at a television station and the moderator said to him the opening statement how come the national farmers organization has been able to lead the cow market for the past twelve months in this area now he says I know you have because I have checked the figures it's true those the type of stories that we need to tell to prove our effectiveness we take a look at the contracts being negotiated on hogs when we're able to take and negotiate a contract that will return to our producers net dollars we have the ability to do it we have the people well dairy we've been able to increase our volume some 12% in the last year we project another substantial at least comparable increase in the next year and as simply because people are recognizing the capabilities of negotiating and the importance of forward contracts supply contracts and I've said many many times that at some point agriculture is going to embrace contract farming by this I mean that you will have contracts for commodities that have not been planted or harvested when you go into the Farm Credit people for capital for operating capital and we're fast approaching that type of an atmosphere this has a two-fold purpose one it will give the producer some stability in his budgeting process it will give the farm credit people assurance of your ability to repay and how many times have we come to you and others and pleaded that you get involved in a forward contract process so that we could lock down gains and build from that point forward and nearly about exception that advice has been sound and solid and would have given we the producer that protection that we so sorely need well I want to talk about two other things that are vitally important to this organization Frank talked to you this afternoon ingrain about what is recall a called the VIP program volume incentive program I happen to be one of the producers that doesn't produce a lot of green perhaps five ten thousand bushel but I know this that all the five and ten thousand bushel producers in the country cannot cause that market to react favorably for we five and ten thousand bushel producers and when we have the ability to reach out and unfortunately a lot of our own members would move a portion of their grain through the system through the structure of the organization through program marketing and then they take the balance and go somewhere else and so we felt that we needed to design a way where we could attract those producers that would that we would really benefit from if they would participate with us their participation could give us some protection waring we didn't have the ability to protect ourselves and so I become a recipient of the program because of their strengths their strengths that I'm drawing on and that program is sound and that program will work and you and I will draw strength from those people who have been standing on the perimeter watching it will give us some ability to be more competitive in non-competitive areas and I submit and encourage that you embrace that program and study it very carefully because therein lies our success and as Frank said you know we have never had the luxury of not selling grain we set up a structure and that overhead of that structure I don't know what the cost is but I'm gonna guess three hundred thousand a month I could be off a little but not too far but to maintain that structure that's approximately the cost of it and if the grain does not move then that structure becomes an albatross really and that the desire or determination to move grain that depends on how strong the structure is we'd like to be in a position to advise and say to our membership it doesn't look like a good time to move grain right now you make the decision but it appears to us that maybe we ought to wait 30 days or 60 days and we haven't had the ability to do that because of the overhead cost and under this program we will have more flexibility we'll have more ability to make decisions that will affect marketing bargaining that those markets make available as we bargain and negotiate on these contracts another program that becomes very important to the organization some 10 years ago we decided as the leadership of the organization that it was important that we establish an office in Washington we're not so naive to think that you can live outside the political system you're a part of it and you will live within that system and so you use that system to the best ability that you have and capitalize on its existence because it's there unfortunately we don't have a lot of confidence in it doing anything for farmers our experience has taught us otherwise but nevertheless they can legislate you and I out of business overnight they can cause bills and amendments to be enacted that would threaten almost at will the very existence of collective bargaining and so we established that that office for two or three reasons one to be a watchdog and watch for any attempts or threats that may be posed against this organization about two years ago the Board of Directors decided that it was now becoming such a political football and the element there was becoming so tense that we had to have some ability to have greater influence there and we saw those who are standing around the side who may be on the other side of the fence developing methods and procedures to protect their interests and they were designing what is referred to as PAC committees political action committees these political action committees had the ability to help fund the campaign's of many of these influential congressmen and it became very apparent that our ability to work with them was becoming less and less because we could not participate in some of those fundraisers that influenced those congressmen and their votes unfortunate as it is that's the way the games played people and we can talk and we can criticize it but that's the way the games played and when they've get ready to have a fundraiser campaign they send out the invitations they expect you to participate and if you don't when you call they don't answer the phone and you have to make up your mind whether you want to be able to talk to them by phone or stand in line and hope that they get tired of seeing you stand there the Board of Directors chose that we set up a PAC fund that would give us some ability because we knew the strength of the opposition the strength of the opposition was pumping into millions and millions of dollars we don't have that ability we don't intend to but there has to be some genuine effort to get involved in that type of an activity in a political atmosphere and so I recommend strongly to you as delegate bodies that you participate in as members I firmly believe that the politics of this country will be run by PAC funds at some point in the future but that five and ten dollars that you and I may participate as a contribution will have little or no meaning and that those who have established a PAC fund which all now have done every farm group has them commodity groups ever consumer group they have their fun and the politics in this country will at some point be run by those committees because of the funding that will come from people we have to recognize that that's the game that's being played if you want to have an influence of any kind in the legislative process to protect your interests what do we got coming up well the bargaining bill is back on the platter again you've got to have some ability to influence the vote on that bill because it will challenge collective bargaining and there will be others that continually crop up amendments that will be attempted to be attached to and you have to have I say you through that fund Chuck has to have the ability to pick up the phone and call and without that he cannot function and do it and so before you leave the convention stop and talk to chuck news staff they'll help you understand it better than I because they're on the front line they're there well I want to close in just making a few very brief comments the challenge that lies ahead people has never been greater our responsibility we have never sensed more keenly than we do now and as we talked this morning and as some reported it appears as though net farm income will be less next year than this by statistics not of our making that interest rates will not give you the relief that you need farm markets as we look at them will not and there is only one way that we can protect our economic interests and that's for you and I that are here is to band ourselves together in sufficient strength that we can protect or assist in protecting and then those that are standing on the fringe who don't know what we are we reach out and help them understand because they want to become a part of our program and they simply don't know how we're going to accept that part of the challenge and we want you also to help are you up to it people the battles there you ready we'll give the leadership but I'll tell you it's a pretty lonely job to be a general when you turn around the troops are gone as long as them troops are there I'll tell you we'll go through fire we'll give the leadership that we believe must be given we know when to push and pull we know when to back off we know when the time's right to hit you understand the principle of collective bargaining and let us implement the fundamentals it's good to be here with you tonight our convention will continue of course tomorrow as you meet with the department's and I think you're going to be impressed with the caliber of people there the message that they're gonna have for you the program that you're going to reacquaint yourself with thank you and good night thank you very much thank you