By Michael Bowman, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union member Last Thursday, the White House hosted a “Champions of Change” event, inviting 12 from more than 500 program alumni to meet with President Obama and share the stories of their work. I was honored to be one of those chosen to attend and was part of a … Read More

By Brittany Jablonsky, NFU government relations representative Today the Senate Committee on Agriculture marked up its draft of the 2012 Farm Bill (entitled the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012) and passed the final version out of committee on a bipartisan 16-5 vote. The manager’s amendment offered today incorporated a number of changes … Read More

By Brittany Jablonsky, NFU government relations representative Last Friday the Senate Committee on Agriculture released a draft of the 2012 Farm Bill. The Committee plans to begin its markup of the bill tomorrow morning at 9:00, and markup is expected to continue through Thursday. NFU is pleased with many of the provisions in the bill, and … Read More

By Justin Sherlock, NFU intern On Thursday, the White House hosted a panel titled “Innovations in Renewable Energy” which is part of the Champions of Change recognition efforts that are being done. In essence, the White House was honoring individuals who have helped spur innovations that are advancing the renewable energy industry. One honoree, Lt. … Read More

By Brittany Jablonsky, NFU government relations representative This morning the Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the health care law passed just over two years ago. Farmers Union members have always felt that access to affordable, quality health care is the right of all citizens, rural … Read More

By Tony Jarboe, NFU communications coordinator Missouri Farmers Union President Richard Oswald has a great write-up of NFU’s 110th Anniversary Convention in La Vista, Neb., in the Daily Yonder today. He discusses NFU’s approach to policy creation, the special orders of business that were passed, and the new NFU logo. Below is an excerpt from … Read More

The following speech was delivered by New England Farmers Union member Tess Lavoie-Brown at NFU’s 110th Anniversary Convention in La Vista, Neb. Thanks to folks at the National Farmers Union for inviting me to speak. I am a new voice, and it takes enormous confidence for them to bring me here. I say I am … Read More

By Jan Ahlen, NFU government relations representative Rural America is under increased economic stress. What once was a thriving sector of the economy and a boon for rural economic development, American agriculture employs fewer people every year. As a result, there are fewer jobs for young people. Today’s farm children would rather move to cities … Read More

By Maria Miller, NFU director of education This year people around the world are celebrating a business model that puts people first. In a world where the majority of businesses put profit first, this model is being called innovative. For Farmers Union, we call it history. Farmers Union’s roots go back to Point, Texas, where, … Read More

By Brittany Jablonsky, NFU government relations representative Beginning today, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce plans to markup H.R. 3989, the Student Success Act. One of the amendments to this legislation that the committee plans to consider has particular implications for rural schools ­ an amendment based on H.R. 2485, the All Children … Read More