Tag Archives: Grassroots

Grassroots Members Participate in Annual Policy Development

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September 2024 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

Florida Farm Bureau’s grassroots policy development is in full swing as members from across the state gathered during August to participate in the organization’s commodity and issue based advisory committee fall meetings. These committees meet twice annually to review current Farm Bureau policy and to surface emerging issues that may need heightened focus in the organization’s advocacy efforts.

County Farm Bureaus nominate members to serve on advisory committees and the final selections are made by Florida Farm Bureau Federation President Jeb Smith.  In addition to advisory committees, county Farm Bureaus can also submit resolutions for policy directly, as well as the Florida Farm Bureau Federation Board of Directors.  Regardless of their method of generation, these new resolutions are reviewed by the oversight committee and then forwarded to the voting delegates to be ratified at the state Annual Meeting.

Member-ratified policy is the backbone of our organization. Without strong policy, we lack clear direction. The grassroots nature of this process is vital to ensure that our policy is truly representative of a broad cross section of our membership.  As the state’s largest general agriculture organization, it can be challenging to ensure that policy does not pit subsets of our membership against each other.  For this reason, our policy decisions are not made in haste; the process takes a full year to complete.

For more information on Farm Bureau’s policy development process, please contact the Agricultural Policy Department at 352.374.1543.

A Guide to Florida Farm Bureau Policy Development

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November 2023 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

As a grassroots organization, Florida Farm Bureau’s policies start with recommendations from members at the county level. This is predominantly accomplished through 16 commodity-based advisory committees, which are comprised of nominated members at the county-level and appointed by the organization’s state president.  

Each of the committees are made up of farmers, ranchers and growers, who are voting members on the committee, and industry professionals, who are non-voting technical advisors. These technical advisors serve as expert liaisons to their respective areas and guide Florida Farm Bureau’s policies through education. Technical advisors play a fundamental role in ensuring Florida Farm Bureau members are educated in industry updates to guide decisions that are made in accordance with current and scientifically-sound principles. 

Once policy amendments and new resolutions are proposed at advisory committee meetings, they are presented at the organization’s Annual Meeting to be accepted or rejected by the delegate body. If a policy is accepted and deemed of national importance, it is sent on to American Farm Bureau’s Annual Meeting in January for review. Once a policy is accepted on the state level, the Legislative Affairs Division implements FFBF’s policy book on the Hill by advocating and lobbying on behalf of our membership. 

In the 2023 policy process, 23 policies were amended, one policy was removed, and eight new resolutions were accepted. These changes represent the current needs of agricultural producers in Florida and will give FFBF staff the direction they need to advocate for farmers and ranchers at the local, state, and national level.