A select committee of 55 Oklahoma Farm Bureau leaders has been chosen to study the future of agriculture and Farm Bureau as part of the American Farm Bureau Centennial Development Project.
Among the project’s priorities are the mission and structure of Farm Bureau, the demographics of Farm Bureau members, policy development, member benefits, communications, technology, political activities and leadership development.
“This is a strategic planning process for the county, state and American Farm Bureau,” said Mike Spradling, Oklahoma Farm Bureau President. “Meeting the challenges to establish a farm organization for the future requires visionary leadership at all levels. History illustrates that we’ve done this successfully throughout our evolution and we can do it again.”
One particular area Spradling wants to address is the aging demographics of farmers and ranchers.
“Within the next two decades, we are going to need 100,000 new farmers and ranchers across this country,” Spradling said. “We need these producers to be industry leaders, so we are looking at developing more ways to surface these producers and get them involved.”
Committee member Lawrence Sawatzky, Clinton, OK, believes there needs to be more education and information for the public to understand agricultural production.
“We spend so much time as farmers growing food that we forget we need to be doing other things to help the public understand what’s happening on the farm,” Sawatzky said.
The committee held their first meeting in Oklahoma City, May 9. Committee members were divided into smaller working groups for each of the nine OFB districts and will meet several more times in the next two years before completing the project in 2014. The centennial project will then be implemented on a five-year schedule leading to the 100th anniversary of American Farm Bureau in 2019.
