Agricultural News
AFR's Terry Detrick Offers Moderating Tone in NFU Policy Debate
Thu, 08 Mar 2012 05:53:52 CST
National Farmers Union (NFU) delegates adopted a Special Order of Business at their 110th Annual Convention of the organization on Wednesday that calls for a separation of the Federation of State Beef Councils from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.
The President of the American Farmers & Ranchers- Terry Detrick- argued against the resolution before behind closed doors for the last several days as well as on the floor of the delegate session on Wednesday. Detrick is representative of the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion Board for Oklahoma- and he says that while there was a lot of concern from an audit released in 2010- that the problems uncovered have been addressed- and that the process is "squeaky clean." He explained to us in a telephone interview Wednesday evening that many of the NFU members most upset with the Beef Checkoff have also raised hogs- and believe that the Pork Checkoff did not represent the smaller producer versus the large vertically integrated operations. They fear the same fate for the beef industry- and think that the relationshop between the State Beef Councils and the policy side of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association is too cozy.
It's not just the Beef Checkoff issue that has kept Detrick busy while helping represent Oklahoma as one of the largest Farmers Union states in the organization. Detrick explains that AFR is much more conservation than the "boys up north" and that AFR policy is often at odds with the NFU positions taken by the delegates and the Executive Committee.
It appears that Detrick will have the chance to be the conservative conscience of the generally liberal farm group- as he has been selected to go onto and serve on the Executive Committee of the NFU this year. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for our special audio report that features our Wednesday evening conversation with this wheat and cattle producer from Ames, Oklahoma.
Click here for our earlier story taken from the news release of the NFU on the Special Orders of Business that included language on the beef checkoff
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