NFO-105 (AV10608): Convention '66

welcome to another edition of us farm report brought to you today and each weekday at this same time by members of the national farmers organization in this television viewing area the national farmers organization is dedicated to raising and stabilizing farm prices through collective bargaining today's u.s. farm report is entitled convention 1966 leading today's discussion is Ed Shima a farmer from Marengo Iowa welcome to another edition of us farm report I first of all I would like to say that we appreciate this opportunity to visit with you today on behalf of the initial members in your area that are planting this program today's program will that delve into the National Convention of the in April that's coming up soon at Milwaukee Wisconsin and also somewhat into the structure of the organization on today's panel are four farmers from Eastern Iowa I'd like you to introduce the three other panelists Maynard Rafferty from Poweshiek County Iowa who is a dairy farmer and Jim Killeen from Johnson County Iowa who is the general farmer and Willis Rowell from Clayton County Iowa who also has the general farming operation and I of course I am from Iowa County and primarily raised corn and hogs and feeder pigs the program today is a little bit different than some of them that we have, yeah, that you have seen in the past on US farm report and as I said we want to go into the convention that is coming up soon at Milwaukee Wisconsin I think one question that comes up in many people's mind is why the NFO what is the organization for what does it stand for and so on primarily the NFO is an organization our primary purpose is to raise and stabilize farm prices at a higher level than they are today currently the average farmer in the United States is getting only about 55 percent as much in terms of net income as the average city person so this is the reason for the NFO primarily to raise and stabilize our prices we have a specific program of doing this and we'll on past programs we've gone into some of the details we will be in the future also but today we want to hit on a convention primarily and I think at this point I'll ask Willis Rowell the what is the purpose of the convention what are some of the things going to be discussed and so on well it why yet it seems like ever since the birth of the NFO several years ago when it gets about this time of year along the 1st of November and the harvesting is getting underway real well there seems to be a air of enthusiasm and air of anticipation take over the farm area especially the NFO organized area is there people realize now there is one total answer to their economic problem out on the farm and that is the NFO collective bargaining program so they start to build their enthusiasm early to get to this convention which normally is about the first week in December this year it will be December 7th and 8th at Milwaukee we've chosen Milwaukee this year we've been around to several of the large cities in the major farm areas in the past few years we've been to Minneapolis to St. Paul to Des Moines and now this year we're going to Milwaukee and our people now are starting to elect their delegates at the county level they recognize the significant gains we've made in bargaining this year all of these things put together lead up to what we might call a real exciting a real constructive convention there's no way for us to go now except straight ahead more organizing more selling together more bargaining together in order to stabilize our farm prices together we expect this to enthusiasm to keep building for the next few weeks we expect many thousands of people to be Milwaukee for this great convention I think now it would be interesting if we asked Maynard why what his thoughts are about the coming convention Thank You Willis I think we should say the main purpose of the convention as I think myself and most of us look at it and of course the publicity that it gets it always points to the election of our national president and the vice president and that is one important aspect of the convention these men are of course elected every year for a one-year term but there are several other things that I believe are even more important than this and these include the seating of the board members from the various states these national board of directors of the NFO meet approximately once a month and their authority is over the president of the National Farmers Organization but even more than that the National Convention sets of policies through the writing and amending of the bylaws of the National Farmers organization and the preparing and adopting of the resolutions at the National Convention and this sets down the guidelines the laws if you will by which our national officers have to operate within and so regardless of who may or may not be elected to our national officers they must abide by the policy set annually at the National conven- convention and so we find that the supreme authority according to our bylaws rests in the National Convention which of course convened once a year between conventions the supreme authority is in the National Board of Directors and between meetings of the National Board of Directors the supreme authority is in the executive committee and when the executive committee is not in session then the supreme authority is with the president but he is of course always subject to the policy made at the National Convention now at this point I think Jim Dylan would could tell us how delegates are elected and how the officers are elected Jim thank you Maynard the delegates to the district state national conventions of the National Farmers Organization are elected on the same basis in every county in every state the delegates are based proportionately on the number of members in each County now this differs somewhat in the representation of some organizations and that they have one delegate per County you can readily see that in these under such a representation such as this if you have a county with a just few members in it you they would actually share in more representation than accounting where they have several members and this is a democracy in its truest form in the representation of delegates in the National Farmers Organization that all members share equal representation at convention time and like Maynard has pointed out at national convention time the whole crux the organization is formed and molded year by year we've added to it in past years and oddly 1966 convention will be nothing different at the big National Convention the National President and the Vice President is elected from one year term and this executive the president organization carries out even the executive duties and as Maynard has pointed out the national directors from the various states are seated and they formulate the policy and the executive department sees is that they are carried out I will also point out that the President appoints a commodity heads and of the various departments of the grain meat and dairy departments here they are appointed by the president are passed upon and sworn into office by the Board of Directors and I think this and in essence Ed takes care of the one important point as far as the national farmers organization is concerned in the structure of the organization and it differs from quite a few other organizations in that the delegates to the National Convention are elected directly from the county to the National Convention and many organizations you have a situation where the delegates go to a district convention and then the district convention elect delegates to the state convention and then the state convention elect delegates to the National Convention and I think many times in a structure of this sort that you can lose the purpose and the original intent of the members out at the grassroots so to speak by going through all of these committees and what the national farmers organization the delegates are elected from the county and they go directly to the National Convention and as a result I think to have more truer representation of the people's true feelings out in the country who who all eligible to go to the convention Willis well first of course the first requirement is that you do be a member of the National Farmers Organization and of course this limits are total convention to farmers because only farmers are allowed to be a member this certainly is the grandest method I know of directing farmers directing their own farm policies we heard these boys talk a little about the final election of the National Board of Directors from the various states so I wonder if it wouldn't be nice to take a look at how this is done the various states of the National Farmers Organization all through the Midwest a few weeks ago and maybe there's a few conventions left have their state convention at these conventions the elect or they nominate I should say the men they feel they would like to have represent them on the national board of directors this nomination then carries to the National Convention which will this year will be December 7th and 8th at Milwaukee and at this point the total convention has to finalize the election of these state directors this in effect puts the final election of every man of the serving on the National Board of Directors in the hands of the delegates from every state that's represented there in other words then Willis the National Convention electing delegates and they are not only responsible for their statement to all of the states in the NFO this is right we have had to lower all state barriers as far as collective bargaining for agriculture we notice that the volume buyers of agricultural products just don't pay any attention to state lines so if we're going to be volume sellers and bargain for these fair prices for these commodities certainly we can't stop at a state line we've got to go nationwide in order to be in a good competitive position with our buyers well Jim what what does this involve then as far as bargaining and marketing is concerned on the national level as far as the NFO is concerned well what it is really entailed and over the past years is a grand and glorious I may add bargaining arrangement which we have come up with at this time and this is one of the primary concerns why I'm glad to see national convention roll around from the standpoint that within our midst in our grips now we have some result that we can focus our attention on in the way of our marketing arrangements and is through this united effort across and over state lines as Willis has pointed out that we have organized in volume moved this volume together and a group bargained pork collectively and I might add it for once in my lifetime meant dollars in my pocket and this is one of the greatest reasons why I'm glad to see National Convention time roll around once again Ed what are some of the main points you as hard to conventions concern that you get the most good out of Jim well naturally it is one of the greatest things that I'd like to see the National Convention roll around for is from the standpoint that this is when you as a member can actually voice your opinion in the operation of this farm organization like we pointed out earlier in the program your representation through your delegate from your County or delegates as they might be and incidentally they average somewhere I would imagine them from 20 to 30 delegates per County you actually have a voice in the operation of this organization and this is unique for once in my lifetime I actually have a say as to how my operation out here on the farm in the end result of selling my production is going to be handled and has been my privilege to attend seven national conventions and I will say that the eighth one I'm looking forward to more than in the past four like I pointed out earlier- earlier we have after long last achieved some great goals and I'll be able to go the National Convention and exchange news and notes and problems with my fellow friend from Indiana Kentucky Idaho Illinois you name it throughout the Midwest and this is one of the greatest reasons why I like to go to the national convention is to be able to talk to these farmers for once farmers get together and talk over a mutual problem whereas in the past we've been pitted against one another we were always more or less kept divided where each had our own problems and now we've actually sat down and tried to do something about it cooperatively I think Jim it's real interesting is far as the conventions are concerned Jim naturally every convention there there are some differences of opinion but I think our basic problem all over the United States is we all have the same basic problem with farmers and it's an interesting one we discuss some of these great opinions and differences and so on and when the thing is all said and done we all come out with about the same idea that we need to do more in terms of marketing and so on and well it's at this point could you elaborate just a little bit more on what just hasn't meant as farmers individually across the country well of course we've seen in the last couple of years since we started our marketing arrangements in meet our biome sales and grain group sales all over the United States certainly it's meant many many dollars in farming income this is the reason we organized to start with we've never lost sight of our goal so we plan to put more and more dollars in farmers pockets until we get them to a point where four dollars worth of work they received a dollar and nothing less well I don't I don't think ed where we're going to stop until we attain this and another thing that in thinking about the structure of the organization and also the National Convention is the situation where each individual member or delegate may have ideas and so on that he's presented presented to the impede of the resolution their bylaws committee or do the other pertinent committees and maybe it was overwritten by these committees so Jim then what would be if your your idea was overwritten could you do anything else about it Jim yes this is one of the unique aspects of this organization ed and it makes you glad that you belong to such an organization from the standpoint that if you do have an idea a resolution that you have presented to committee prior to convention time and for one of very very many [unclear] for many various reasons it has been laid aside and has an action entered as a resolution if it is thrown out in other words you still have the prerogative to bring this resolution presented on the floor and if 2/3 of the voting delegate body okay it vote for the resolution is inserted into the organization becomes part of the policy order and this is a democracy in its truest form and I might say that as a member of the organization I'm looking forward to the National Convention and do now hereby extend to any viewer listener within range today to become a member or a visitor at National Convention in Milwaukee actually Jim whether it has we of course elected delegates from each County and even though you're if you're a member of the national farmers organization and are not a delegate you're still welcome to come to the convention and eligible and there's a visitor section for members who are not delegates for non-members farmers and also for city folks or anyone else that might be interested in the procedure of the NFO as an organization now going on a little bit farther Maynard I'll turn to you at this point specifically where is the convention going to be at Milwaukee and so on you had the details on this yes ed the convention will be at the arena auditorium in Milwaukee Wisconsin December 7th and 8th that's on Wednesday and Thursday and it will go in session at 10:00 a.m. with registration between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. each day Wednesday and Thursday a couple of points in regard to the discussion previous everyone is welcome at this convention it is free there's no charge anyone can come regardless of their occupation or their residents or their business now there is a visitor section at which anyone can go to the delegates section of the auditorium is of course restricted to those who are bona fide elected delegates from their respective counties and another point in regard to election particularly president and vice-president these people are nominated from the floor of the convention by the delegates any delegate is eligible to make a nomination for president or vice president and this is this is the way that these people are nominated they cannot be nominated through a nominating committee or a sifting committee this this way we is one more evidence of the absolute democratic system that we have an NFO which we are so proud of and the only requirement to be a delegate is that he be an NFO member and of course to be an NFO member you have to be engaged in the production of agriculture products with with the additional requirement that you have to have a major portion, a major portion of your income from the sale of farm products to be a delegate or to be elected or appointed to any position in the NFO well this is interesting because what this does is it makes it the NFO an organization that couldn't be we'll say controlled by a group of outsiders and so long there they have to be farmers but the major part of their income from farming then I have noticed that the conventions of the NFO that I've been to in past years that there's a lot of interest in these conventions there is they're interested in the business that's being carried on and there's very little during the sessions the business sessions and so on everybody is there and they're not off shopping downtown and so on and why would you say that is Jim mainly I think that the main reason for this ed isn't now for once in the history of American agriculture farmers have come to realize the fact that they have to do something about marketing about selling their production and this is actually what you're doing when you go to national convention you help set down the guidelines approve further guidelines and new ideas that you will insert into the organization in the coming year and farmers have a definite interest and desire to attend National Convention and attend the sessions as they take place at convention time and undoubtedly they there is some social activity to to a degree but by and large most of the business is agricultural marketing business the national farmers organization and its delegates take a real heart and soul attitude towards it every year and like Willis pointed out earlier you can feel the pulse of it rising already I think we're well at this point we haven't hit too much on the various committee reports that are made at each of these conventions and would you want go into a little more on this yes I think so ed our committee people are elected at district conventions we do for the purpose of of electing committees we divide our areas along congressional district lines each of these districts in turn has an annual convention and they elect their people that they wish to serve them on the various committees that will function at the state in the National Convention these committees include bylaws they include resolutions vote and now a committee credentials committee and Arrangements committee all of these people are elected from the district level and they in turn go to the state convention to serve there and go to the National Convention to serve there might point out also well said as far as the violet bylaws and resolutions committee in particular that there's a considerable amount of time spent by these committees ahead of the invention and working out all these details and so on well these people work a full two days ahead of the actual convention itself they will report in to Milwaukee early Monday morning on December 5th and they'll be put to work immediately they will work through the days the 5th and the 6th and hoping to get all of their reports ready for the convention body in the morning of the 7th so they have a real full schedule I think at this point folks will just ask each of the panelists what their impression of each of the convention is and why they particularly are interested in in the convention this year and what it means for them as individual farmers will get start off with Willis at this point well of course Ed I've got a particular interest in this convention being a member of the National Board of Directors for the past year and re-nominated at our Iowa state convention for the next year with the blessings of the National Convention I will serve again as a member of the National Board so this puts me in a position where I must take an interest in agriculture from New York to Idaho and from Michigan Minnesota down into Arkansas Missouri Kansas all over the Midwest and we took we talked about marketing products from all these places while we talk about dairy we talk about grain we talk about meat we talk about flax we talk about sugar beets even tobacco from Kentucky dry edible beans all of these things are included in our program it's very broad it's very comprehensive and I'm real anxious to get to Milwaukee for a few days this winter and talk with the people from the various states I know what their needs are what their desires are so that with the hope that they can represent them in a capable manner for the next year TJm that's real easy for me to tell you Ed why I'm looking forward to the national convention time once again is that for once in my lifetime as a farmer hogs have remained at a relatively stable price from one convention time until the next and I will admit that it's the first year this last year is the first year that this has even happened since our farmers organize the farmers organization was born but this is quite evident that our organization has added strength and stability to the hog market and me being a hog producer I'm glad to see this come about through the efforts of fellows like Willis Rowell Maynard Rafferty and yourself and other farmer friends of mine too throughout the Midwest from the various states will attend this national convention we're working together cooperatively have added strength and stability to the livestock markets and their grain and meat and dairy departments and so this is my primary reason why I'm looking forward to going back to the National Convention and helping formulate additional policy that will carry us on to our ultimate goal you mentioned the the hog price level and which has been real good for the dear and no doubt largely because of the efforts of the NFO and I think this would be a good thing to point out to the other people that raid the other commodities that they could probably do the same thing for their commodities if they put the time and effort into it that the hog producers have in terms of marketing together and selling together and so on Maynard what are your main impressions as far as the convention of comparative land if I may I'd like to quote for just a bit from the preamble to the bylaws and this to me puts it in a nutshell why NFO we hold that permitting the processor to set the price on the sale of commodities raised by the American farmer is a complete reverse of the tradition of the American system of government which normally permits the manufacture of products to set the prices of the products that he produces we hold these conditions to be utterly at variance with the spirit of justice and the needs of the American farmer we believe that the right of the farmer to organize for his mutual protection is comparable to the rights of other segments of our society to organize for their mutual production and as Jim says we see the progress not only in hogs we have seen it also in grains and milk not to the extent that we have in hogs but we're moving and we go to this convention to visit with people from all over the agriculture part of the country to see what they're doing and see how we can mutually move together in cooperation our time in drawing closed and on behalf of the panelists and we want to thank you for watching us farm report today and we'd like to have you watch again next Sunday at the same time we go into details on many of the things we weren't able to cover today and keep in mind both members and non-members and city people that do you the National Convention of the NFO will be this 7th the 7th and 8th of December at Milwaukee Wisconsin at the auditorium arena we will feel there thank you farmers for a healthy and stable farm economy join the NFO the national farmers organization is dedicated to raising and stabilizing farm prices through collective bargaining tune in again next week at the same time for another edition of us farm report a weekly program that delves into the many vital issues affecting American agriculture today u.s. farm report to rural areas public relations program is brought to you in the interest of agriculture world business and a well-being of our nation by members of the national farmers organization in this television area for more information on the national farmers organization contact the county organization in your county or write NFO Corning Iowa farmers remember collective bargaining is the key to farmer success join the NFO today