Year of the Co-op
Posted on | February 12, 2012 | No Comments
By Maria Miller, NFU education director
“Cooperatives are a reminder to the international community that it is possible to pursue both economic viability and social responsibility. “ – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Successful cooperatives have been around for a long time. Some Farmers Union oil and elevator co-ops are celebrating more than 80 years in business. A cooperative started by Ben Franklin continues to serve the Philadelphia community. In Europe, and especially in England, cooperatives took root during the Industrial Revolution.
What does this mean? For one, co-ops are time-tested ways for people to work together to improve their lives. For another, cooperatives are a unique economic and social structure that works in all cultures. Cooperatives such as CHS, Inc., literally are big business in the U.S. Other co-ops need just a handful of employees to serve their members. New co-ops are established every year in rural communities and large cities. Housing, daycare, and grocery stores are among the many types of co-ops that are increasingly popular. Agricultural co-ops are common across the nation’s heartland. Farmer-owned cooperatives produce cheese, cranberry, orange, and grape products for consumers. Rural electrics and telephone co-ops keep rural America lit up and connected. Credit unions provide members with a wide variety of financial services. Farm Credit is a cooperative lender. And did you know the Associated Press is a co-op?
As 2012 is the International Year of Cooperatives, here is a Top 10 list of things worth your consideration.
10. Make sure you have co-op stock in your name. Depending on how the account was set up, your family’s stock in a co-op may be in one person’s name, leaving spouses (and possibly adult children in a farm partnership) without an account. You may need stock in your own name if you want to run for the board.
9. Value your dividends. Cooperatives return their profits to members. These patronage refunds or dividends are a leading benefit of being a member. The more business you do at a co-op, the more your dividends will grow.
8. Value your savings. Co-ops are in business to provide you with services or products that otherwise would be more expensive or not available at all.
7. Look for cooperative products in the grocery store. Sunkist and Ocean Spray make juices, Land O Lakes and Organic Valley make butter and other dairy products, and Blue Diamond makes packages various kinds of nuts. Did you know Ace Hardware is a cooperative?
6. Order online. All kinds of co-ops offer products available online, along with recipes, helpful tips, and much more. A select Google search using the product type and “cooperative” will get you off to a good start.
5. Introduce someone to the advantages of being a member of a co-op. Your children, other family members and friends will thank you.
4. Show up at your co-op’s annual meeting. You as a member have the right to vote. In fact, cooperatives encourage their members to show an active interest in the cooperative.
3. Run for the board or offer to serve on an advisory committee. Cooperatives are democratically run. Members elect the board of directors who themselves must be members of the co-op.
2. Join a new co-op such as REI that focuses on providing its members with gear for mountain climbing, hiking, and camping. You can order on-line and send items to your home or shop in their stores. For a list of the top 100 cooperatives in the U.S., go to www.ncb.coop/coop100/thelist.html.
1. True cooperatives adhere to the Seven Co-op Principles, one of which is a commitment to educate members, employees and others about the value of cooperatives. To learn more about the principles or cooperatives, go to www.nfu.org/cooperation.
National Farmers Union shares that commitment to educate others about the value of cooperatives. Every summer, Farmers Union camps and day classes are held across the nation teaching young people about co-ops. The NFU Foundation’s College Conference on Cooperatives helps students from around the country gain a thorough understanding of cooperative businesses. This year, NFU is concentrating on expanding our adult cooperative education programs.
At the NFU Convention . . . . . Attend the United Nations’ Year of the Cooperative session on March 6 at 8:15 AM.
Mutual Respect Across Agriculture
Posted on | February 12, 2012 | No Comments
By Maria Miller, NFU education director
It has never been easy for young people to begin farming and ranching. Each generation of farmers lack credit, affordable and available access to land, a depth of experience, and, sometimes, support from their hometown communities and families. It’s tough enough for to put down roots when taking over an operation that has been in the family for generations, and even more if you don’t have a strong farm background.
Curiously, both the problem and solutions sound familiar. Federal and state programs have been around for years to make it easier for beginning farmers to start. Some lending cooperatives also have programs in place. And land grant universities along with farm organizations have been offering their insight and assistance to encourage a new generation of farmers. So why were Farmers Union members coming to us saying they couldn’t find a beginning farmer program that “fit”?
“National Farmers Union’s ability to reach out to a broad cross-section of farmers makes it different than other organizations,” said a participant in NFU’s 2011 Beginning Farmer Institute (BFI). “They teach at a level that opens eyes to a broader picture of where our farm fits into agriculture.”
Having been on farms from Hawaii to Alaska and from California to Rhode Island and across the Midwest we couldn’t help but notice the common concerns of beginning farmers. So we created a beginning farmer and rancher education program that includes a diverse mix of farmers from an urban farmer to a rancher to a CSA owner to a grain farmer.
“The varied backgrounds of the participants such as grain, livestock, vegetable, organic, and conventional made the Institute a truly unique and engaging experience,” said a new farmer participating in the inaugural class. “The diversity of perspectives enriched the experience by demonstrating how, despite our individual circumstances, we all face similar challenges in starting a farm-based business whether it’s access to capital or transitioning the farm between generations. We especially appreciated the focus on mutual respect across agriculture, and cooperation as a solution to help meet these needs in order to keep family farming viable into the future.” That’s what National Farmers Union is about: growing the future of agriculture.
NFU has been around since 1902. Some things don’t change. Farmers plant seeds, worry about weather during the growing season, and hope the price they get provides enough to live on after all the bills have been paid.
What has changed is the number of young people who want to begin in agriculture without having experience in growing up on a farm or ranch. Many of these beginning farmers want to start their own sustainable community agriculture operations: growing for the local market.
If we’re going to have future generations of family farmers, they need to start now and we want to see them succeed. That’s why we’re continuing our BFI program and giving them a voice at our national convention in Omaha. During our annual meeting, we’ll have a break-out session designed to listen to what new and transitioning farmers have to say.
Don’t miss your chance to hear BFI speakers and more at NFU’s 110th Anniversary Convention. Click here to register.
To apply to NFU’s 2012 Beginning Farmer Institute, log on to http://www.nfu.org/education/adult-education. Applications must be postmarked by March 14, 2012.
Hawaii-Style Agriculture
Posted on | January 12, 2012 | No Comments
By Chandler Goule, NFU vice president of government relations
When Bill Greenleaf met me at the airport we both said hello and immediately we were both on the phone with income calls. As we proceeded away from the airport to the beautiful mountains, Bill explained to mehis past life as a PGA golf pro. I hoped I didn’t insult him by saying I could throw a golf ball farther than hitting one.
Bill said I was the type of person he liked to talk to and he launched into his analogy of how hitting a golf ball was a metaphor for life. I wasn’t sure where this conversation was going but has he explained his holistic approach to golf I could see the link to hitting a golf ball. There was enough in that conversation for an entirely separate blog post.
Bill took the same holistic approach to farming and family. Before I knew it we pulled into Greenleaf farms. Now I have been on hundreds of farms. This was by far the smallest place I had ever heard called a farm.
I was led on a firsthand tour across the two acres and was amazed at all the different production systems that I saw. Everything served multiple purposes, had a specific place, and was laid out in a maze. I quickly realized I needed a larger vocabulary to remember all of the fruits and vegetables that I saw. More than 300 species of flora, fauna and livestock lived on this two-acre farm.
The care and dedication given to each plant, raised bed, and aquaculture base was obvious. Bill’s approach to life spilled into his farming and family. I was standing in the family’s kitchen and it was hard to tell where the house began and the farm ended. The island was overrun with fruit and vegetables, all produced on that two-acre farm. It was hard to decide what to eat first.
Bill and his family were unique, but not really. As his family and I made our way down the road we met Janet Simpson, who had 4.5 acres and grew 70-80 things. She was recently crowned “Best Cup in Maui” for her coffee and was second state-wide, beating out the famous Kona coffee in several places.
Janet shared the passion, hard work, and lifestyle I had seen at the Greenleaf farm. I learned about coffee, dragon fruit and irrigation techniques.
Our final destination was to the medicine wheel. This unique combination of herbal healing, spiritual value and food production were all captured on Christina’s farm.
She had taken the ancient belief about the healing power of a circle and created a medicinal wheel in the earth for people to learn from each other. She ginned her own wild Hawaiian cotton and actively grew fish in aquaponic ponds as did Bill.
The warm and caring nature of each family and person I met was very evident in the organic life I saw growing meticulously placed in an exact spot for light, proximity to the compost or for the view. All in all I learned more about myself and greatly appreciated our Hawaii Farmers Union for sharing a piece of their light with me.
What’s not cool about COOL?
Posted on | January 11, 2012 | No Comments
By Mike Stranz, NFU government relations representative
We’re all used to seeing labels on everyday products that tell us where that item was produced. It’s almost a reflex to look for that information.
Given how basic that information seems to be, it is startling to realize that Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) wasn’t required on many foods, including meat, fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, and many nuts, until very recently. And now your right to know where food comes from is in jeopardy.
The idea is simple enough: consumers ought to be able to know what country their food comes from. A label that shows the country of origin allows consumers to make informed purchasing decisions and allows farmers and ranchers to proudly distinguish their products at retail.
In 2008, National Farmers Union (NFU) played an instrumental role in making COOL part of the Farm Bill. The law was implemented in 2009 and now you can go to almost any grocery store and find COOL information.
Unfortunately, disputes filed by Canada and Mexico to the World Trade Organization (WTO) have brought the future of COOL into question. Canada and Mexico sued the U.S. in WTO court <http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/cases_e/ds384_e.htm> , saying that COOL treated American-raised-and-grown food differently. That allegation rings somewhat hollow, considering that both Canada and Mexico have their own versions of COOL.
The WTO Dispute Settlement Panel found that the COOL law <http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5070867> itself does not violate WTO rules, but the way in which the U.S. implemented COOL <http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5074847> is against the rules of the WTO. Confusing, right?
A bipartisan group of 19 U.S. senators have sent a letter <http://www.agri-pulse.com/Senators_Administration_appeal_WTO_COOL_ruling_12152011.asp> to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk to appeal the WTO’s decision. NFU and allied organizations in support of COOL are considering the best options as to how to stand up to the WTO’s ruling.
What do you think? As a consumer, do you expect to know – at very least, the country – from where your food comes? Or as a farmer, do you count on being able to distinguish the food you produce with a “Made in the U.S.A.” label?
And do you want to ask the WTO what’s not cool about COOL?
Halfway to Our Goal With Feeding America
Posted on | December 20, 2011 | No Comments
By Tony Jarboe, NFU communications coordinator
It is the holiday season, and for many, that means giving gifts, spending time with family, and eating lots of food. Unfortunately, for 37 million hungry Americans, the holiday season means little more than just searching for the next meal. That is why NFU has partnered with Feeding America to reach out to those most in need. The Howard G. Buffett Foundation has agreed to match every dollar given by Farmers Union members to Feeding America until NFU’s convention in March.
So far, NFU members have donated more than $26,000 to the cause, including a generous $15,000 donation by Texas Farmers Union. The match by the Buffett Foundation turns those donations into $52,000. With Feeding America’s network of food banks and resources, each dollar donated translates into $17 worth of food. That means that thanks to the generous contributions by Farmers Union members, $884,000 worth of food has been donated to America’s hungry. That is an incredible number, but Farmers Union continues to strive towards our goal of raising $50,000. Please consider making a contribution by logging on to www.nfu.org/feedingamerica. Or you can fill out the form (click here) and send a check. Farmers Union members can also engage their family, friends, church groups, and other organizations and ask for their help in donating to this worth cause.