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December 15, 2000

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Vernie Glasson's annual report
on the state of Texas Farm Bureau...

(Editor's Note: The following is the text of TFB Executive Director Vernie Glasson's report to members at the 67th Annual Texas Farm Bureau Convention.)

It is a pleasure to speak to the delegates of this 67th annual convention of Texas Farm Bureau. I am pleased to once again report that Texas Farm Bureau is "rock solid" in terms of 1) financial strength, 2) volunteer leadership, 3) organizational structure, and 4) programs, benefits, and services.

You should recognize that from a fiscal standpoint, we have sufficient funds on hand to weather the worst that one might expect in the future. Our income from all sources continues strong and is projected to remain so.

The year 2000 has provided substantial opportunity for farm and ranch leaders to be active in promoting the agricultural industry—in our schools, in our state government, with the federal government—and more especially, an increasingly large urban and suburban public that is now three and four generations removed from the farms and ranches of rural Texas. Farm Bureau's organizational strength continues to gain because of our "grassroots" orientation—the fact that we have leaders who step up to the plate to speak out and to defend their industry. Farmers and ranchers, who know what it is to watch crops dry up and die with no rain or to sell commodities at next-to-give-away prices, are the "Voice of Farm Bureau." That's what truly makes this organization what it is.

And, of course, programs, benefits, and services help keep our Farm Bureau on track. Issues come and go; crisis is temporary; but the need for an organization such as Farm Bureau is an everyday, on-going thing. Farm Bureau's outstanding array of programs, benefits, and services keep us together as a unit so that we might have the structure and resources necessary to do the job that members need.

I'd like to focus on some of Texas Farm Bureau's activities and accomplishments in 2000 and then conclude by focusing a bit on what is ahead.

Overall, 2000 was an excellent year of accomplishment. The Program of Work listed 40 items that were approved by the Texas Farm Bureau Board of Directors, and we achieved our goals in all but two of them—so that is a success rate of 95 percent. It is difficult to share with you all of the organization's accomplishments in any year, and 2000 is no exception. I received reports from each of the divisions and departments after October 31 that ran some 17 pages in length, and truly, each of those accomplishments is important to Farm Bureau and to the staff who gave leadership to carrying out the project. Let me give you just a "smattering":

1. Member Benefits and Services:

• Developed and implemented a Beltone Hearing Aid Discount Program for members.

•Established a member discount program with Ranch Hand Equipment for vehicle add-ons such as bumper guards and other equipment.

•Implemented a New Member Appreciation Calling Program from the state office, thanking new members for joining Farm Bureau.

•Negotiated rate reductions in the Farm Bureau Connection Long Distance Program.

•Provided more than 4,300 Farm Bureau members a $500 rebate on a Dodge vehicle purchase ($2.15 million in savings).

2. Information and Public Relations Division:

•Redesigned the TFB publications to improve look and readability.

•Completed 46 years on the air with Farm Bureau Round-up with 69 Texas radio stations on the network.

•Launched TexasSaleBarn.com on the TFB website—a classified ad service free to members possibly to be read by the whole "world-wide web," with more than 100,000 "hits" (readers) per month and now carrying 800-900 ads.

•Created sufficient news interest to generate some 4,000 newspaper clippings across Texas on agriculture/Farm Bureau matters.

•Conducted 15 Agricultural Spokesman Training Programs.

3. Legislative Department:

•Worked to have the Congress pass major crop insurance reform legislation this year of close to $8.2 billion over a five-year period. Most of this money will go to provide additional assistance of crop insurance premiums.

•Passed normal trade relations status with China, and this should provide additional market opportunities for farmers to a country with more than 1.2 billion people. It is now possible that China will enter the WTO, and USDA predicts that our farm exports will soon be billions of dollars to China.

•Worked to encourage the Congress to provide an extra Market Transition Payment, equivalent to the 1999 payment. This is the third year for extra payments.

•Passed disaster assistance in the amount of $3.6 billion as added to the Agriculture Appropriations Bill. That assistance is supposed to cover both crop loss as well as economic loss from low prices.

•Passed (finally) the food and medicine exemption for Cuba and other "sanctioned" nations. The final version is not as good as we wanted; however, this marks a change in national/international policy that has existed for over 40 years.

4. Commodity and Regulatory Department:

•Surfaced and began working with a company that offers a total livestock waste management service to the livestock industry that could alleviate much of the environmental problem associated with large livestock feeding operations. The initial focus is on the dairy industry in an impaired watershed.

•Worked with the Agricultural Extension Service and commodity organizations to determine use patterns and degree of importance of organophosphates targeted by the EPA as a result of the implementation of the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act.

•Played a significant roll in an effort to secure needed adjustments in the Loan Deficiency Program.

•Convinced the U.S. Department of Justice to assign a special anti-trust lawyer, devoted to reviewing agricultural mergers and acquisitions.

5. Research, Education, and Policy Development Department:

•Introduced a new teacher's resource guide for TFB's Agriculture-in-the-Classroom Program called Food and Fiber for the 21st Century.

•Assisted with ag fairs for schools in urban and suburban counties— including Harris, Travis, Williamson, Kendall, Bexar, Comal, Tarrant, Johnson, and Ellis counties. Approximately 90 other county Farm Bureaus in Texas also conducted ag fairs for school children.

•Continued to expand urban relations efforts in 2000 through TFB's interactive display, Planet Agriculture. More than 2 million people viewed the exhibit—with major exhibitions in Fort Worth, Denton, Abilene, Austin, Houston, San Antonio, and the Valley. TFB joined TDA with a joint appearance at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas for a full month's show seen by more than one million people.

6. AGFUND:

•Participated in 53 races in Texas, and was successful in 51 of the 53.

•With an almost equally impressive primary election rate, the 2000 elections proved to be Farm Bureau's most successful yet in the seven election cycles of AGFUND's existence.

7. Implementation of Project 2000 was a major undertaking for the 2000 year:

I'm pleased to report that the first year of the program was successfully completed. The program, you might recall, consists of five elements:

•Increased administrative assistance for county Farm Bureau leaders.

•Increased emphasis on Agriculture-in-the-Classroom.

•Increased public relations activities.

•Increased marketing and risk management education.

•Establishment of a Legal Defense Fund.

Regarding the first item, increased administrative assistance for county Farm Bureaus, six agriculture program coordinators were assigned to 19 metropolitan-suburban area county Farm Bureaus last November, and they have now completed their first year of helping to promote agriculture to the non-farm population in those areas. Agriculture-in-the-Classroom in each of the areas was a major beneficiary. Contacts with legislators and their key staff have also improved as a result. Individual assessments by all county Farm Bureaus involved have credited the program with helping to raise Farm Bureau's visibility in promoting the agriculture industry. 2000 was an excellent start for this new and innovative program.

The Agriculture-in-the-Classroom emphasis was on restructuring and rewriting the curriculum guide and in promoting activities in the counties where the new agriculture program coordinators were assigned.

Again, we believe this was a success.

The increased efforts in Public Relations for 2000 were centered around the selection, training, and deployment of a "Speakers Team" of 39 agricultural producers from across Texas. The speakers are excellent representatives for agriculture, and they are now prepared and available to speak to local civic and other groups at county Farm Bureau requests. We had several very positive experiences in 2000, and we are now prepared to continue the process of "having farmers speak for farmers" about the important issues of the day.

The agricultural marketing education program has also been very successful. The purpose is to help producers understand how to take advantage of market opportunities and to better manage risks. Workshops offer basic and intermediate education on futures market hedging, options, and other risk management techniques. This year, we have held 77 hedging workshops, mostly in conjunction with county Farm Bureaus, with over 500 producer members attending. In addition, we held four regional workshops on cotton, cattle, and rice, with 314 producers. The regional workshops were primarily for our members to hear industry leaders discuss marketing strategies.

The delegates' decision to establish a Legal Defense Fund could not have come at a more opportune time. Legal challenges seem to come much more frequently today and, certainly, litigation costs are high. Unfortunately, Farm Bureau must be prepared to defend our public policy interests in the courts, and we have been very active in 2000. The following items are evidence of that activity:

• TFB, along with the American Farm Bureau Federation, obtained a preliminary injunction to prevent the United States Department of Agriculture from releasing private information on farmers and ranchers licensed to use livestock protection collars (LPCs) or M-44s to the Animal Protection Institute (John Does v. USDA).

•TFB obtained a preliminary injunction to prevent the Texas Department of Agriculture from releasing private information on licensed users of LPCs or M-44s to the Humane Society of the U.S. (John Does v. TDA).

•TFB filed a "friend of the court" brief to the federal district court in Tyler urging class certification of landowners along a railroad corridor designated for trail use. The court granted the class certification which makes it easier for landowners to pursue claims for damages.

•TFB filed a "friend of the court" brief successfully requesting that the Texas Supreme Court review the San Antonio Court of Appeal's decision overturning a trial court ruling that applied the Private Real Property Rights Preservation Act to the Edwards Aquifer Authority.

•TFB filed a "friend of the court" brief with the Waco Court of Appeals in a case involving a taking by a water district that occurred downstream of a dam.

•In addition, TFB is supporting a Farm Bureau member involved in a right-to-farm case, providing legal research and communication on power line companies condemnation of private property, providing research and input on Edwards Aquifer Authority Rules, and has supported landowners involved in an abandoned rail right-of-way claim in West Texas.

•••

As we close the books on 2000, we have many things to keep our eyes on. Change comes so quickly—even our major worries of a few months ago now seem like a far distant memory. Remember the hullabaloo over computers and Y2K? That was only 11 months ago! Remember our excitement and exuberance over Bob Stallman's election as president of the American Farm Bureau Federation? That was just 10 months ago. All of that, now seems distant, doesn't it? It's because constant change and new challenges face us each day of our lives.

And so it will be for Farm Bureau, agriculture, and each of us in the future. The "dot com" era we live in is fast—instantaneous—and it gives us a new look at life. I have spent time in various talks over the past two years attempting to paint a picture for you. Let me be as plain as I know how to be. The dot com, e-mail, world-wide web world is here—it is real, and it is not going away. It is changing how we live, what we read, how we buy, and how we learn.

I received a card from a vendor recently that had this interesting question posed in bold type: "Are associations going to become obsolete with the rapid and widespread adoption of the internet?"

This was a very interesting and thought-provoking question to me, and I believe that the answer is, "not Texas Farm Bureau." I submit to you that the rapid and widespread adoption of the internet can make this organization at least 10 times stronger than we are today. Note I said "can make"—because the question remains what you, as volunteers, do about it.

We are gearing up the Farm Bureau organization resources—staff, equipment, training—but to complete effective communication, one needs two things: a sender and a receiver. Farm Bureau leaders must prepare. You must get online. It is not expensive, it is not difficult, and it is truly changing the world. It will likely be recorded as "the major change factor" of agriculture for this decade.

Texas Farm Bureau's key challenges for the immediate future are advocacy and growth, and both are heavily impacted by internet technology. Our effective use of this technology will directly affect our future success in advocating policy positions to state and federal government and in helping our organization to grow in members and services.

Texas Farm Bureau is preparing, and I encourage you as county Farm Bureau leaders to go home and to prepare your county Farm Bureau—both your office staff and volunteer leaders.

Texas Farm Bureau has always been a "forward-thinking" organization. Never has that been more important than now.

I urge you to consider and take necessary steps to keep Farm Bureau "forward-thinking." If we do so at the county, state, and national levels, Farm Bureau will continue to be the "Voice of Agriculture" for decades to come.