Oklahoma Farm Bureau members will make the trek to Salt Lake City, Utah, later this week to attend the 2024 American Farm Bureau Annual Meeting Jan. 19-24.
Five voting delegates elected by members at OKFB’s annual meeting in November 2023 will represent Oklahoma at the business session Tuesday, Jan. 23, where dozens of grassroots national policy resolutions will be presented for consideration.
OKFB members have their eyes on several topics set for discussion during the business session, including emergency and disaster preparedness. Oklahoma’s unpredictable weather patterns often leave farmers and ranchers with significant crop and livestock losses from drought, hailstorms, ice storms and more. Expected resolution topics include increased flexibility for FSA loans in disaster areas, increased flexibility for emergency haying and grazing of CRP land, and eligibility of contract poultry growers for weather-related disaster funding.
Farm Bureau members can also expect to discuss positions on a number of Environmental Protection Agency rules and regulations, including the EPA’s 2023 updated definition of Waters of the United States and pesticide regulations for endangered species. These regulations have the potential to affect the way farmers and ranchers conduct daily business to produce a safe and affordable food supply for their fellow Americans.
Another area of interest for Farm Bureau members is improving the agricultural guest worker program. As a very labor-intensive industry, the agriculture industry relies on dependable agricultural workers to ensure commodities are grown and harvested efficiently and effectively.
OKFB is also prepared to support resolutions on including whole milk in the school lunch program, USDA funding for direct-to-consumer specialty crop marketing, flexibility for dicamba cutoff dates and more.
For more information on the 2024 AFBF Annual Meeting, visit annualconvention.fb.org.
