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Show WfcSltKW MrlhKICANA C001 34 SERIALS ORDER DEPT UN I V OF UTAH LIBRARY S L C UTAH FB : performance policy development of a well-machi- Utah Farm Bureau's policy development process is moving steadily toward the point in time when it will climax in a series of resolutions at the state convention this November. Powerful thrust was added at the recent Mid-YeConference in Provo, when some 200 county leaders met in small discussion groups to list the issues they see as most important this year. Listening carefully were members of the state policy research committee, which met immediately after the discussions ended to consider review of the topics named by members. That committee has already met several times this year to research some of the top agricultural issues named last year by members. It will meet several times more to collect information for background statements on a wide range of policy matters. That background material will go to county leaders in September and Octmeetober at a series of ings around the state. Then community and policy development county ar issue-surfaci- action looms on key issues ne. ng multi-coun- ty meetings will involve local Farm Bureau members in discussion on the items most important to each county. After the counties adopt resolutions at their annual fall meetings, the lists will go to the state Farm Bureau office for compiling and later consideration at the state convention by voting delegates. This process, outlined by Tom Bingham. UFBFs director of public policy, is the heart of Farm Bureau action. Vice president Jay Child conducted the Conference session in which the following issues came to light: Inflation Land use planninjg Water rights and Central Utah Project Property taxes and multi-coun- ty levies Foreign trade Regulatory agencies (E PA. OSH A, IRS. etc.) County and school government and budgets Hunting and trespass laws Farm labor Predator control Marketing, commodities, supplies Welfare Multiple use of public land Consumer education Transfer of private property to government ownership Eminent domain Censorship of media Cost of government programs Political contributions State resolutions adopted by voting delegates will be sent to the American Farm Bureau for consideration at the AFBF convention where state voting delegates adopt national resolutions. Bingham points out: At this stage, it's important that as many ranchers and farmers as possible get involved in policy development. That way, the issues on which Farm Bureau will work during 1975 will represent the thinking of a majority of voting members. He said that Farm Bureau's creation of policy from the local level up is unique in general farm organizations. Thats why Farm Bureau is a true spokesman for farmers, he added. 8 While Neil Sumsion, UFBF director of field services, spoke to membership workers' in a special workshop at Mid-YeConference . . . ar - Vol. XX, No. 7 Salt Lake City, Utah August 1974 4 Conference focuses on ag issues Mid-Ye- ar In a program rated high by those attending, more than 200 Utah Farm Bureau leaders recently giained new insight into the. issues facing agri- culture. They gathered on the Brigham Young University campus in Provo July 18 and 19. Looking at policy issues both through outsiders eyes and their own. the county leaders focused on such current matters as land use planning, water allocation, marketing and farm labor. Several speakers addressed the group on top agricultural matters. Allen Grant, vice president of the American Farm Bureau Federation and California FB president, recounted his recent experiences on agricultural marketing tours of the Orient and South America. He also spoke on farm labor.having had d experience with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers. Covering several national issues was Eldon Schnoor. Western region field service director for AFBF. He spoke on inflation, federal land use legislation, strategic (food) reserves, the first-han- i i proposed Consumer Protection national health insurance, reentry rules. OSHA, and other key topics. With water policy high on the priority list of Utah farmers and ranchers, a talk and a period with Jay Bagley. director of the Utah Water Research Lab in .Logan, were of interest. Questions mentioned Friday; the last day of the Conference, covered weather modi Agency, pesticide question-and-answ- er . fication (cloud seeding), the Central Utah Project, and the Labs services to farmers, including salinity testing. Land use planning was the topic of an address by Booth Wallentine. executive vice president of Utah Farm Bureau, on the first days program. In separate workshop sessions, membership workers and county Farm Bureau secretaries received instructions for the coming year. Changes in membership billing procedures were new to the secretaries. One important part of the program was the discussion, by several small groups, of the policy issues which members want the state policy research committee to investigate. This is a major step in Utah's policy development procedure. Recognition for his nearly 30 years of service on the state Farm Bureau staff went to LeGrand Jarman at a Thursday night barbecue in Hobble Creek Canyon, southeast of Provo. A response by Jarman, who retired this May as public policy director, brought a wave of nostalgia to the older Farm Bureau workers present. Entertainment highlight of the two-da- y Conference was the performance by the Muggleston Family Bank at the barbecue. UFBF president Elmo Hamilton capped the program with a summarizing speech that challenged the county workers to meaningful action in meeting the needs of the state's agriculture. Neil Sumsion, UFBF field services director, was in charge of the program. and Jake Fuhriman of the UFBF staff instructed county Farm Bureau secretaries on getting bylaws and articles of incorporation up to date ... Tom Bingham, director of public policy for UFBF, conducted a workshop on natural resources and local affairs, featuring water and land use. - AFBF vice president Allan Grant's recounting of agricultural marketing tours to the Orient and South America held the attention of a crowd of some 200 leaders. U.S. must have export markets, he cautioned. |