Congratulations to Linda Riefers and Holly Finnarn
Ohio Farmers Union members Linda Riefers and Holly Finnarn were recognized for excellence in service in bringing new members to the Farmers Union family in 2013.
“Peer recruitment is a powerful and important part of growing and maintaining membership in our organization,” said NFU President Roger Johnson. “The passion and dedication these members exude for Farmers Union is something in which we take great pride.”
Johnson continues as president, Teske elected veep of NFU
Delegates at the National Farmers Union 112th Anniversary Convention re-elected Roger Johnson president of the organization and Donn Teske, Kansas Farmers Union president, NFU vice president.
“I am grateful that the membership will allow me to serve for two more years,” said Johnson. “I am honored to lead this organization and am looking forward to working with NAME to continue the time-honored traditions of Farmers Union.”
Johnson is NFU’s 14th president, a position he has held since 2009. Johnson hails from a family farm near Turtle Lake, N.D., and grew up as an active member of Farmers Union. Prior to his post at Farmers Union, he was the North Dakota Commissioner of Agriculture.
“I am so humbled by the faith and trust the delegates have shown by electing me vice president,” said Teske. “ I’ll do my best to help President Johnson move the organization forward under the direction of the grassroots policy formed here today.
Teske was elected from a field of three candidates, and replaces former NFU Vice President Claudia Svarstad, who did not seek re-election.
Teske has served as Kansas Farmers Union president since 2000 and is a fifth generation farmer in northeast Kansas.
NFU Delegates Mark 2014 as ‘International Year of Family Farming’
National Farmers Union (NFU) members kicked off the organization’s annual policy debate with a special order of business celebrating 2014 as the International Year of Family Farming, as recognized by the United Nations.
“The International Year of Family Farming recognizes the important contributions that family farming can make to improving food security and eradicating poverty around the world. Family farming is the predominant form of agriculture in both developing and developed countries,” the special order states.
Globally, 870 million people are suffering from chronic undernourishment and a disproportionate number of them are farmers. Forty-five percent of the global population makes its living directly from farming, and the majority of the world’s farmers are women that produce up to 80 percent of the world’s food. In the United States, family farms still constitute 96 percent of all farms. The agriculture sector contributes more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy, employs approximately 14 percent of the total workforce and accounts for nearly 5 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product.
The special order recognizes “the importance of raising the profile of family farming by focusing the world’s attention on its significant role in alleviating hunger and poverty, providing food security and nutrition, improving livelihoods, managing natural resources, protecting the environment and achieving sustainable development in rural areas.”
NFU urges the U.S. Congress and the administration to do its part in officially recognizing the International Year of Family Farming and to celebrate family farming’s important role in various ways throughout the year. It also encourages countries, national organizations and states to undertake activities in support of the year.
Click here to read the special order of business.
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