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Show March, 1969 Page 6 UTAH FARM BUREAU NEWS Grazing Fee Hearing Urged By Bennett Sen. Wallace F. Bennett, urged the Senate Interior Subcommittee on Public Lands to initiate action to rescind a new schedule of grazing fees on Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands. The Utahn said the fees will increase over the next ten years by an average 250 per cent on Forest Service land and 375 per cent on BLM land. They can only speed up the rate at which ranchers leave the Industry, as ranchers already are faced with agricultural prices falling to keep up wth inflationary trends. Sen. Bennett, in testimony before the Subcommittee, continued. County presidents met February 3rd in Salt Lake City to discuss several programs. A report on the Safemark Tire was given and discussed by the leaders. In the foreground is Elmo W. Hamilton, UFB President. Speaking is Don Allen, UFB Board member from District 4. The increased grazlngfees would result in an annual net income loss to Utah ranchers of $835,000, ac- Strange Thinking in Farm Bureau cording to a Utah State UniverIn addition, since sity study. in essence grazing permits are capital assets, the Utah ranchers' capital losses would be about $33 (m) million. Added to all this is the estimated $1.7 (m) million in annual Income lost in the secondary sectors of the economy, and the possible negative effect on the county and state tax base for the areas Farm Bureau to attitude. From is like any other organization when it comes time to time we get enmeshed in the organizational busywork that we pile up around ourselves and before we know it we're doing things simply because we've always done them. When this happens we often lose sight of the goals we began with. This is as true of an individual as it is of an organization. That's why new members can often bring a lot of fresh steam into the organization and revive some of the old spirit In this light it's hard to understand the thinking of some county leaders when they deliberately hold down membership to keep their quota from climbing to a point they believe would be difficult to maintain. A number of Farm Bureau insurance agents and membership chairmen have been known to comment "Let's not work too hard to get too many new members. We'll just have that many more to get next year to make quota." This sort of attitude goes hand in hand with the "Seven Steps to Stagnation" borrowed from the Missouri Farm Bureau: 1. We're not ready for that. 2. Weve never done it that way before. 3. We're doing all right without it. 4. We tried that once before. 5. It costs in question." The Utah lawmaker Lynn Adair, center, KSL Farm Director received an award from Utah Farm Bureau for outstanding service to agriculture during the critical "Greenbelt" campaign in 1968. The award was presented at a meeting of County President. At left is Elmo W. Hamilton, UFB President and at right is Joseph A. Kjar, Vice President and General Manager, KSL Radio. said that Utah's ranchers graze about .280,000 cattle and 1,416,000 sheep on Forest Service and BLM lands. However, if these grazing fee increases are allowed to stand unmodified, this can only result in a decline in the ranching industry and an increased migration from our rural communities to our already overburdened cities," Sen. Bennett said. These fee schedules, which were another of the Johnson Ad- ministration's 6. That's not our responsibility. 7. It just won't work. und lots ot it, but without the proper attitude, your program will have the tired look of yesterday. The new blood coming into Farm Bureau often fires up ( ven the stodgiest member with his boots planted in yesterday's fields (and that condition isn't necessarily synonymous with advance, age we've seen some mossbacks who were quite young in years and at the same time some energetic, imaginative innovators who were well along in years). The new thinkers point out to those concerned about getting membership so high they won't be able to reach quota next year, that those new members they bring in will be there to help seek out additional new members next year. Once the apathy is broken, there's no limit to what a county Farm Bureau can do. There's nothing anywhere that says Farm Bureau is limited to the programs we've had in the past Any new program can be adopted as part of the overall Farm Bureau pursuits as long as they agree with the basic goals and purposes of the organization. Some possibilities of new programs are the acquisition of retailing stores so that food may be produced, processed and sold by farmers. N'ot so the idea was officially presented as a resolution by the Ohio Farm Bureau in 1964. Another possibility is the control of farm supply by farmers. The cooperative idea has worked fairly well in this regard but has never been much more than another form of retailer selling to the farmer. Possible is the control of farm supply manufacturers, distributors and retailers to make the farm people of this country truly in charge. The skys the limit Farm Bureau can be whatever it needs whatever its members want it to be. to be The only problem is the kind of thinking that says, "It cant bedone. or that says. "Lef hold things where they are so we can meet our quota next year." not mine. Make sure that your Its your organization attitude matches your mental ideal for the organization and you'll be building what you want it to be. far-fetche- last minute leg- acies to the American people, should tie rescinded pending the results of a public land fee study now underway by the Public Land he Law Review Commission, said. The commission's study results are to be made available ly June 30, 1970. too much. I understand that a combination of these excuses can kill nearly any new idea. As a matter of fact, I've seen good new ideas killed by only one of these time worn weasel phrases. Certainly the basis for a successful county program is work ah, Part of the more than 100 Young Farmers & Ranchers who attended the Leadership Training School in St. George, February 14, 15. Young Farmers & Ranchers Defrost In St. George More than 100 Young Farmers and Ranchers from throughout the state met in St. George February 14, 15, for the annual Leadership Training School. Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee for 1969. Left to right (wives seated in front of husbands) Mr. and Mrs. Roger Hicken, District 5; Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Smith, District 7; Mr. and Mrs. Newell Norman , District 1; Mr. Ken Ashby, seated, YF&R Chairman of both Utah and AFBF Committees; Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Webb, Distrct 4; Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Johnson, District 6; Mr. and Mrs. Stan Jackson, District 2. Not present were Mrs. Ashby and Mr. and Mrs. Dennis McDougal, District 3. The Utah Keynote speaker was Claude de St. Paer, Assistant Director of the AFBF Program Development Division. Others on the program were Lloyd Clement, USU Extension Farm Management Specialist; LeGrand Jarman, UFB Field Services Director and Jacob Fuhri-ma- n, Fleldman for the northern counties. Workshops on money management, current legislation and Farm d, . Bureau organization were held with a mock along Discussion Meet and a model Talent Find organizational structure. Other activities included a discussion of motivation and a quiz on personal opinions covering a wide range of contemporary subjects to point up the vast differences in individuals. Meetings Claude de St. Paer, AFFB Staffer, spoke to the Young Farmers and Ranchers at their meeting in St. George. were held In the Washington County Courthouse and a dinner u eeunp and a luncheon were held in the Trafalga Restaurant in St. George. Following the conclusion of the Conference, a YF & R Committee meeting was held. |