Membership working for you
Like many of you, this has been a fall of challenges at the Paap farm. We have been in the field parts of 10 of the last 30 days, and this is the latest we have ever started corn harvest. Mother Nature truly has the upper hand when it comes to harvest, and there is no better year than this one where she has shown she is in charge.

When we are busy, especially when we are behind, the newspapers, farm magazines and even The Voice of Agriculture pile up on the kitchen table until another rainy day, or harvest is complete.

It is when we are too busy with harvest to keep up with reading the mail, too busy with harvest to attend a meeting, too busy with harvest to ask a neighbor to join Farm Bureau that our membership matters most.

We as farmers and ranchers cannot afford to be away from our operations at the critical times. That is why we are members of an organization that represents us 24/7 on the local, state and national level.

Some may ask do we want our staff speaking for us while we are busy in the field. What will they say? How will they represent us? How do we know they will not follow their own agenda?

The answer is simple. They have the playbook - our grassroots driven policy book. They know exactly what to say, and how to represent us while we are too busy to attend an important meeting. During our busiest times, you can rest assured that Farm Bureau is a 24/7 organization that makes sure we as farmers and ranchers are at the table and not on the menu. While we have been in the field, Farm Bureau has been at the table on climate change, sugar tax, dairy policy, H1N1, disaster declarations, property taxes for horse owners, low carbon fuel standards, state rail plan, animal husbandry issues, government land acquisition and water issues to name a few, and Farm Bureau will continue to be at the table as issues arise.

Investment of time
Congratulations on making membership! Your efforts were time well spent. Thank you and congratulations to the 69 members of Producers Club and to our top membership recruiters Ron Nelson, Joyce Welander and Dan Glessing.

Minnesota Farm Bureau is adapting to the late fall and our challenging harvest. The Resolutions Committee meeting will be condensed into one busy day instead of two. Thank you to those who serve on this committee. It is an important part of our policy development process.

We understand that November 19-21 is not that far away, and we will still be in the fields. Some may feel like you are too busy to stop farming to attend. But, just like we stop the combine or tractors to do that oil change or other needed maintenance, we need to stop to invest our time in this year’s policy development process. We cannot afford to skip a critical oil change, and we cannot afford to skip our annual meeting. For over 90 years, Farm Bureau has been rooted in tradition and cultivating a strong future. Our policy development is critical for the continued cultivation of our strong future.

In Closing
Minnesota Farm Bureau is a driving force in agriculture because of the hard work and efforts of every member. As we conclude our 90th year, our Farm Bureau Annual Meeting is a time for celebration of our accomplishments, learning more about topics important to our industry and setting our policy direction for the upcoming year. I look forward to visiting with you at the Northland Inn in Brooklyn Park. Thank you to all of our members for everything you do for our organization. It is our members that get things done.