The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1922-03-16
BRIEF HISTORY OF FARM
BUREAU ORGANIZATIONS
Roosevelt County Farm Bureau
NeWs)

cTdtlOn is OF the FeueTi
tions of the State Farm Bureau
These are the results of the organ
County Farm Bureaus later came tt
gether into State Farm Bureaus an
the State Farm Bureaus in the ia
of 1919 formed the National Farr
Bureau Federation. The actual TO,
nation of the National Farm Bureau
came about in this manner Severa
members of different State Farm
Bureaus were called to Washington
in the latter part of the war whe1
prices were being fixed. These mem
bers developed a feeling that farm
ing was not receiving the same con
sideration at the hands of the Gov.
eminent in the industrial manage
ment of the war that other industries
were receiving and that there was nc
organization then in existance which
might be called truly representative
of the American Farmers in the same
sense that the U. S.. Chamber Of Com
merce represented the industries of
the country and the American Fed
GRAFTON of Labor represented the
labor groups of the country. They
therefore said that we should form
a National Federation or group of
fo 1s,, VIC 70 do fhnro thiooc
Probably the men most responsible
for this were MIR. Howard, who was
then president of the Iowa State
Farm Bureau; Mr.. Bradfute, presi-
dent of the Ohio State Farm Bureau;
Howard Leonard, of Illinois; and
Strivings of New York. These
people correspondent with each other
and formed a sort of a long distance
organization committee. Later they
met in the spring of 1919 and made
arrangements for the issuance of a
call of a national meeting to be held
in Chicago in November, 1919. AS
a result of this call all states having
state organizations SEM their rep
resentatives and there was formed
The American Farm Bureau FEEDER
alton.
The American Farm Bureau Fed
Grafton soon became interested in
matters relative to marketing, nation
Il legislation, ETC., and soon went be-
yond the limits of a purely educa-
ional association. For this reason
t was necessary for them to accept
differentiation between the County
Bureau and the State and Ma
ional Farm Bureau. This differen-
iation being based on the principle
hat the life of the County Farm
Bureau is in the community assist
d by the county agricultural agent.
-lso that the county agent being
aid out of public funds and being !
.irtually a member of the faculty of
lie agricultural college except that
e taught in the country instead of Z
at the college and conse- !
uently was a public servant without =
ny, what might be termed "class re- 7
possibility" to anwone. !
1t is evident that the State and i
ational Farm Bureau are more or
SIS in the nature of a class organi-
ltion and that they represent the {
.rmers as a class. 1t is evident that f
.rmers are almost forced into such a
/ organization because other groups Il
e organizing in a like manner v
neither or not the organization is c.
used is a matter of personal di- O.
ction rather than a quality which N
inherit in the organization Itself.
lie County Farm Bureau is an edu-
tional association primarily for the al
emotion of better farming and bet m
r home living and is not interested L
much in economic and political 10
alters but passes such things over fe
the State Farm Bureau which has F.
particular strings or anything and N
a free farmers organization to do w
it sees fit. 1t is interested in pro- Ii
'ting all types of activities for the Ii
tterment of the farmers. The Ma Ii
nal Farm Bureau is very much the
as the State except that it works
a national way. to
The American Farm Bureau has til
.oroximately 100000 paid mem mi
s, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana and Ohio ag
pretty closely in membership, da
irs being around $4,000 in each OF
tie. The membership in each of tic
Sc states is about $1,000 per fe,
Farm Bureaus were first {
rted in New York in 1911. The
a grew very slowly at first but
ing the war it became necessary