Farmer and rancher delegates to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 105th Convention today adopted policies to guide the organization’s work in 2024. Key topics ranged from artificial intelligence, to labor, to crop insurance.
For the second year, delegates were polled at the beginning of the voting session regarding their farms. The results show 99% of those who cast votes operate family farms and nearly two-thirds represent small to mid-size farms as defined by USDA.
“Today, delegates demonstrated their readiness to seize the opportunities and take on the challenges facing agriculture,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “It’s crucial that Congress pass a new farm bill and address the labor shortage in 2024. The policy set forth by Farm Bureaus in all 50 states and Puerto Rico will guide AFBF in its efforts through the process. We look forward to making our members’ unified voice heard as they work to ensure a strong food supply for America’s families.”
Today, delegates to the American Farm Bureau business meeting voted to create new policy to address the growth of artificial intelligence in agriculture. AI has the potential to enhance farming practices and conserve resources, but privacy rights must be respected.
Recognizing the challenges of maintaining a strong agriculture workforce, delegates voted to stabilize wage rates for guest workers and revise H-2A and H-2B programs to better meet the needs of America’s farms.
They reaffirmed their support for increasing reference prices in the farm bill and maintaining a strong crop insurance program, including an expansion of eligibility to ensure more commodities are covered.
On foreign investment, delegates added policy in support of additional funding to improve data collection on the foreign ownership of agricultural land. Delegates also voted to support the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. reviewing foreign investments in U.S. agribusinesses, natural resources and real estate.
Delegates called for changes to the contract poultry pay system to ensure long-term economic sustainability for farmers, and to require more transparency from chicken companies.
On trade, delegates added policy to recommend Congress investigate fertilizer supply chain outages and tariffs placed on imports.
Beyond policy changes, AFBF President Zippy Duvall and Vice President Scott VanderWal were unanimously re-elected for another two-year term.
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