I think that what has happened is that most of the groups that ostensibly represent farmers have not been willing to step up and address the critical structural issues . He says commodity organizations sometimes have had to remind themselves they represent farmers who grow that commodity, rather than the commodity itself. WHAT IS good for corn production might or might not always be good for producers, Hassebrook says. Size and geographic differences in large organizations can be factors, he adds. The larger the organization, probably the slower they can be to react, concedes Dean Kleckner, former president of the American Farm Bureau Federation and now spokesman for Truth About Trade, a group based in Des Moines.
Some people are always ahead of the curve.
That s just the way it is. Kleckner, however, says Farm Bureau leaders have been talking about consolidation issues for years, and there have been heated debates on the issue in state and national meetings. The reality, he says, is Farm Bureau and some of the commodity organizations can t move until a majority of their members want to move. He and Whitaker agree larger organizations and those which are smaller and sometimes ahead of the curve have worked together on many ag issues. There are many areas where we agree and where we work together, Whitaker says.