Some background first:
Q: What is the Farm Bureau?
A: The Farm Bureau is a grass roots organization that includes individuals as members of county farm
bureaus that are in turn members of state farm bureaus which are members of the national organization known as the American Farm Bureau.
Q: What does the term “grass roots” mean?
A: “Grass roots” means that the ideas and direction of the farm bureau originates with the individual members that enrich the county farm bureaus, the state organizations and ultimately the national organization. It is most certainly NOT a top down organization.
More directly, at state and national conventions, delegates (who are individual members) are seated during structured business meetings and empowered with great latitude in directing the future endeavors of the farm bureau.
Q: What would happen if the farm bureau began drifting away from grass roots to become a top down
organization?
A: The farm bureau becoming a top down organization would drift from its mission and serve a few individuals at the top and all too often, ignore the will of its individual members.
The Farm Bureau has been a grass roots for more than a century and it has been a vanguard for farmers and ranchers interests and earned much respect from lawmakers in that time. Unfortunately, the Washington State Farm Bureau (WSFB) believes that advertising that it is still grass roots while it shifts to a top down organization is a successful strategy.
A properly functioning county farm bureau must maintain and protect its place within the farm bureau. A state farm bureau that restricts the rights of the counties to participate fully is not acting in the individual members or that of a county farm bureau’s best interest, much less the entire farm bureau structure for that matter!
At the Yakima County Farm Bureau (YCFB) annual meeting on Oct. 24, 2024 the local membership approved amending the county farm bureau Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws. They also chose after deliberating, changing our name to the Yakima-Klickitat Farm Association (YKFA).
While the intent of the YCFB was to remain a member of the WSFB, it did propose a minor change to its name to include Klickitat county officially under the YCFB banner. The sudden and unexpected termination of YCFBs membership by WSFB forced the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) to notify YCFB that we were required to drop “farm bureau” and all use of the FB logo.
The amendments to the Articles and Bylaws were drafted by the YCFB board with legal counsel assistance and review. The purpose of the changes were to adapt to the new reality of the changes in management and direction evident at the WSFB in interfering with our county farm bureau with regards to advocacy, membership and financial matters. Another goal was to insulate YCFB from a future termination.
Advocacy
The YKFA board believes that advocacy is the prime task of ANY farm or ranch advocacy organization. As the impact of governmental rules and regulations are first felt by our individual members, who better than those members to form opinions and relate experiences and guide the direction of an advocacy organization? The county based boards who are selected and voted upon by the individual members and closest to their members and are also farming under the same circumstances are the logical place to share concerns.
Membership
NO organization can exist without membership. The WSFB correctly wants to expand membership and it expects the county farm bureaus to accomplish that objective. That is also logical.
However, since the leadership change in 2022, the WSFB refused to give members addresses, phone numbers or emails and at one time, all three forms of contact were “off limits” to your local boards. The WSFB expects to censor all communications between the county farm bureaus and its members. This is detrimental to a county farm bureau’s efforts to maintain or increase membership and worse, it is corrosive to trust within the farm bureau.
Your local board believes that if there is “uncomfortable or controversial” news that should be shared within the farm bureau, you, the individual member should be informed first, not last!
Going Forward
The newly renamed but long standing YFKA is fully intent on engaging registered lobbyist(s) and consultants on a contract basis (we have done it before with great success). We also plan on conducting our own direct outreach to lawmakers as we enjoy a great track record dating back to 1953.
The most important thing is that when we engage on your behalf we do so with the same goals and value system that every YFKA board member shares with you, our individual members!
Mark Herke
YKFA, President
Please do not hesitate to contact myself or any of the officers listed on the contact reference you just received in the mail. Also reference the contacts page on the YKFA web site for more board members contacts if there is a board member you are more inclined to communicate with. We are here for you!