2012 Annual Report

Annual 2012 Report

A Message from

Roger Cliff

It has been eight years since I moved from being your organization’s chief lobbyist to its chief executive. During that time the organization has undergone an enormous amount of change. I believe these changes have been for the good and it appears you agree.

We recently did an internal poll of our voting members that validates what we’ve done to position Farm Bureau to better serve our members. Our approval rating in the poll was 84 percent! Our pollster said that percentage is off the charts for an association, and any politician would die for an approval rating like that.

National recognition has also validated the job we are doing. This year we received our first ever President’s Award for our leadership development programs and Navigator Award for our membership growth at the American Farm Bureau Annual Meeting. We also extended our streak of being among the top state Farm Bureaus in the Awards of Excellence, which gauges the quality of our core programs.

We just completed the phase-in of one of our biggest structural changes in decades. We now offer the County Farm Bureau Services Program statewide. This program provides administrative, accounting and newsletter production services to county Farm Bureaus on a voluntary basis for a modest fee. It was designed to make it easier to be a volunteer leader at the county level while increasing the vitality of county Farm Bureaus. We currently have 44 county Farm Bureaus enrolled in the program (a 78 percent participation rate). The program has exceeded our expectations and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Wisconsin had more county Farm Bureaus receive an AFBF Award of Excellence than 44 other states this year.

The good job we are doing for our members was also validated when I recently served on a peer review team for another state’s Farm Bureau. An in-

tense review of the operations in a state with nearly twice the staff and budget proved that we can more than match up with them.

It’s not my style to brag, but I’m really bragging on you. It takes a lot of people to make an organization like ours work so well.

“It takes a lot of people to make an organization like ours work so well. You can all take pride in what we have accomplished.”

First and foremost, we need loyal dues paying members like you. Then we need a Board of Directors like ours to set a clear mission for the organization.

Last but not least we need a great cadre of volunteer leaders and dedicated staff like we have to carry that mission out.

You can all take pride in what we have accomplished in the last eight years. With your continued support, I am confident your Farm Bureau will continue to be the leading voice and face of agriculture in Wisconsin.

Roger Cliff Chief Administrative Officer Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation

YFA - Women’s - Institute

Providing Leadership

Young Farmer and Agriculturist Program

Farm Bureau’s Young Farmer and Agriculturist (YFA) program offers leadership development experiences for members between the ages of 18 and 35. A total of 344 YFA members attended last December’s YFA Conference portion of the WFBF Annual Meeting at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells. To help build the next generation of rural leaders, the Rural Mutual Insurance Company sponsored 100 firsttime attendees to the informational, educational and fun event.

The program also recognizes young members for their agricultural knowledge, farming accomplishments and leadership skills through three leadership contests. Last year, 15 members completed the Achievement Award application, 27 competed in the state Discussion Meet contest and 12 completed the Excellence in Agriculture application. Wisconsin’s winners of those three contests represented their peers at the American Farm Bureau Annual Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii. Jillian Beaty of Rock County made the final four in the national Excellence in Agriculture contest, while Taylor County dairy farmers, Ryan and Cheri Klussendorf competed in the national Achievement Award contest. BJ Chrisler, a UW-Madison student from Sauk County, was a semi-finalist in the national Discussion Meet contest.

Josh Calaway, truck driver for Frost Trucking and a farmer from Wood County, leads the nine-member state YFA Committee.

Women’s Program

Members of this program promote agriculture through a number of channels. Over the past year they advanced ag literacy among Wisconsin youth by assisting with the annual Ag in the Classroom essay contest and purchasing Ag in the Classroom children’s books for schools, libraries and childcare facilities. Women’s committees in 29 counties worked to engage consumers by promot-

ing Farm Bureau’s Food Check-Out Week and helping with 28 beef promotion events across the state.

In addition to holding district meetings where local members develop their leadership skills, network and socialize, more than 350 women attended the 2012 Wisconsin Ag Women’s Summit at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells. The Summit is a joint venture of WFBF, Badgerland Financial and UW-Extension. Next year’s Wisconsin Ag Women’s Summit will be March 15-16 at the Marriott West in Madison.

Kathleen Papcke, a Walworth County farmer, leads the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation’s nine-member state Women’s Committee.

Wisconsin Farm Bureau Institute

The Wisconsin Farm Bureau Institute is a year-long leadership experience which provides premier personal growth and leadership training to develop our next crop of county Farm Bureau leaders.

The 15 members of Institute Class VI have completed sessions on personal leadership development, media training and how the Wisconsin Farm Bureau functions. Their remaining sessions include studying local and state government in Madison and examining national and international ag issues at the offices of the Illinois Farm Bureau. They will graduate at the WFBF Annual Meeting in December before taking a capstone trip to Washington, D.C. in June to impact agricultural policy with their newfound leadership skills. That’s exactly what members of the Institute Class V did when they traveled with the WFBF Board of Directors to Washington, D.C. this past June. Prior to their visits with Wisconsin’s congressional delegation they met with officials at the American Farm Bureau, leaders from the US Dairy Export Council and the South Korean Embassy.

Their capstone trip also included participating in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery and touring Mount Vernon.

This year a total of 85 Farm Bureau members from across the state will have graduated from the program, and more importantly, grown from their Institute experience.

Public Relations

A Voice for Farmers.

As the voice of agriculture, the Farm Bureau continues to be who the media calls when they need information about farm and food news. Over the past year the Farm Bureau received well over 300 media requests from print, radio, television and web-based reporters from local, state, national and international media outlets. Many of these press contacts were generated by more than 200 press releases and weekly radio reports that are produced by the Wisconsin Farm Bureau annually. In addition, the Farm Bureau’s public relations division delivers its messages to members and the consuming public through a number of other channels.

Rural Route

The Wisconsin Farm Bureau’s Rural Route is published six times annually for voting Farm Bureau members. The publication focuses on Farm Bureau’s legislative work, events, educational efforts, sponsorships and exclusive member benefits. Rural Route can also be flipped through on our website - www.

WFBF.com.

Website

The Wisconsin Farm Bureau’s website (www.WFBF. com) serves as an interactive resource for members, agricultural leaders and media. Information about farm markets, weather, legislative issues, Farm Bureau programs and applications for various events are just a click away. Radio reports are available for listening and on-farm videos and interviews are available for watching. Issues of our state and county publications are also available digitally.

Social Media

Wisconsin Farm Bureau is part of the fastest growing social networking site on the planet: Facebook.

To connect with other Farm Bureau members and receive up to the minute updates on events and news, just click ‘like’ on the ‘Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation’ page. In addition, members of the Farm Bureau’s Institute, Women’s and YFA programs all have Facebook pages. Farm Bureau also gets its message out through the use of Twitter @WIFarmBureau. You can find photos from our events on our flickr page (go to www.WFBF.com and click on the “fr” tab above the search bar) and watch our videos on YouTube.

Marketbasket

Farm Bureau’s retail food price survey remains a popular item with media outlets statewide. The information about the average price of a set of predetermined food items is collected by Farm Bureau members across the state. The Marketbasket’s findings show trends in prices paid by consumers and their correlation to trade, weather and the supply and demand issues that factor into food prices.

County Newsletters

Forty-four of our 61 county Farm Bureaus now have their newsletters published by the state Farm Bureau office. This is a feature of the County Farm Bureau Services Program. The quarterly newsletters promote local events, provide information on what county Farm Bureaus are doing on the grassroots level, as well as highlight individual members.

Ag Newswire

This “subscription only” email is sent to Farm Bureau members and to Wisconsin media. It provides an easy to read snapshot of farm, food and rural news on the state and national levels. It also highlights Farm Bureau activities and the organization’s involvement with key legislative issues. The Ag Newswire is sent to nearly 2,400 Farm Bureau members and more than 300 reporters for print, radio, television and web-based news outlets. Are you receiving it yet? If not, send your name and email to clangan@wfbf.com.

Governmental Relations

A Vision for Agriculture.

The Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation has been working tirelessly on behalf of Wisconsin’s farm families, providing key representation on a variety of state and federal issues. The organization’s true strength is the grassroots network of informed and politically active members who contact their legislators on important issues, attend Ag Day at the Capitol in Madison, and travel on Farm Bureau sponsored trips to our nation’s capital.

In Madison

In Washington, D.C.

Wolves

Farm Bill

A growing wolf population has resulted in an increase of livestock depredation from wolf attacks. This year the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service delisted wolves in Wisconsin from the endangered species list. Farm Bureau supported legislation to begin a wolf hunting season this fall. Farmers experiencing depredation can now obtain a permit from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to harvest wolves.

Air Emissions

The DNR exempts Wisconsin livestock farms from air emission regulations because scientific data to establish such regulations does not exist. This exemption was set to expire in July. Farm Bureau supported a new law to continue the exemption until the federal government develops parameters for establishing such regulations.

Transportation

Several transportation-related laws that benefited agriculture were passed this year. A permitting system was established to allow trucks hauling containers for international trade to exceed weight limits. Increased height and width requirements for trucks hauling loads of hay or straw were allowed. The annual fall harvest weight exemption (15 percent more weight when moving crops from the field to storage) was extended from November 30 to December 31. A similar exemption for manure hauling was passed as well.

Wetlands

Farm Bureau supported legislation to reform Wisconsin’s wetland permitting laws. The DNR now has more flexibility to work with farmers who wish to impact a wetland by allowing mitigation to offset any wetland losses. This will allow farmers to build a shed or put in a driveway where it makes the most sense.

Elections

The 15 recall elections held in 2011 and 2012 are unprecedented in history. The Volunteers for Agriculture (WFBF’s political action arm) endorsed incumbents who supported agriculture. The VFA sent postcards to voting members encouraging them to vote for ag-friendly incumbents. Newspaper and radio ads were run in selected recall races.

The 2012 farm bill is still being debated. WFBF has actively supported eliminating direct payments and utilizing the savings for risk management programs and crop insurance.

WFBF has been a leader in dairy reform discussions by supporting the elimination of the price support and the milk income loss programs and replacing them with a voluntary revenue assurance program.

This would give farmers the option of managing their own risk. WFBF actively encourages lawmakers to pass the farm bill in 2012.

Farm Youth Labor

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) had proposed regulations to limit children under the age of 16 from doing most activities on farms (working in a hay mow, milking cows or operating skid steers). WFBF led an effort to get farmers to submit comments to the DOL stating that parents are the best ones to determine their child’s capabilities on the farm. After receiving thousands of comments from across the country, DOL dropped its proposed regulations.

Ag in the Classroom

Planting Seeds

The Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) program provides Wisconsin teachers and their students with the tools to teach and learn how their next meal travels from the farm to the fork. The goal of the program is to help students gain a greater awareness of the role of agriculture in the economy and society, so that they may become citizens who support wise agricultural policies.

Local Efforts

There are 74 local AITC coordinators in 61 Wisconsin counties with organized AITC programs. The local Agriculture in the Classroom efforts are carried out by the county’s AITC Committee. Among the 50 counties that submitted 2011 activity reports, the average committee consisted of five members and utilized additional volunteers for farm tours, classroom presentations or other events. The expenditures for those county AITC programs reporting in 2011 were $122,954. Approximately 14,480 volunteer hours were contributed to conduct a variety of local AITC activities.

Teachers Recognized

Each year the Wisconsin Farm Bureau recognizes a teacher for their efforts in educating students on the importance of agriculture. Teachers of all grade levels and subject areas, with the exclusion of certified agriculture education instructors, are eligible to apply for the award.

Brenda Bunn, a Kindergarten teacher in Fennimore, was the recipient of the Ag in the Classroom’s Outstanding Teacher Award.

Project Funding

The Wisconsin Farm Bureau Foundation awarded 15 matching grants totaling $5,610 to Wisconsin schools and organizations to use for agricultural literacy lessons and activities.

Essay Contest

Daniella Warner of Independence was the winner of the Agriculture in the Classroom’s essay contest.

Wisconsin fourth and fifth graders were asked to write a 100 to 300 word essay with the theme, “Why crops and plants are important to Wisconsin agriculture.” A total of 1,831 Wisconsin students

wrote essays for the competition sponsored by the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Foundation, Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Frontier FS and We Energies.

Other AITC Activities •

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Seed Soil Sun was selected as the Wisconsin Farm Bureau’s 2012 Book of the Year. The book is authored by dairy farmer and WFBF member Cris Peterson.

Offered county AITC information meetings, training sessions and workshops, reaching more than 400 people. This included a two-day training for Soybean Science Kits, Wisconsin AITC and commodity group resources.

59 Soybean Science Kits were utilized by 8,369 students. Funding for five additional kits by the Wisconsin Soybean Marketing Board increased the total sponsored kits to 69 in the state.

Launched a newly designed Ag in the Classroom website.

Increased involvement at the Wisconsin State Fair by participating in three State Fair Camps, co-sponsored 30,000 State Fair Activity Booklets and sponsored the Wisconsin Pizza Challenge.

Farm Bureau Foundation

Supporting Ag Education

Supporting agricultural education programs and developing agricultural leaders is the guiding principle of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Foundation. The Foundation accomplishes this by providing vital financial support to the Ag in the Classroom program, Farm Bureau Institute, and the Wisconsin 4-H and FFA organizations.

Major fundraising accomplishments of the Foundation include: • The 2011 Wisconsin Ag Open raised more than $8,000.

• The silent auction at the 2011 WFBF Annual Meeting raised more than $14,000. The fun name badge ribbon sales conducted by WFBF’s YFA Committee raised $710 for the Foundation.

• The Learn and Lead campaigns, memorial and “in honor of” gifts, and individual, county Farm Bureau and corporate donations continue to support the Foundation.

• GROWMARK, Inc. provided $3,216 to the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Foundation for support through FS Brand Seed Corn, FS HiSoy® soybean seed, and FS WL alfalfa seed sold in Wisconsin.

Frontier FS, Conserv FS, Servco FS, and GROWMARK, Inc. cooperatives were presented $1,529 of the total amount to use for local Agriculture in the Classroom and ag literacy programs.

The Foundation’s support over the last year included: • Sponsoring the 4-H Key Awards for youth for the 38th year.

• Supporting “This Business Called Agriculture” booklets produced by the Wisconsin Agribusiness Council.

• Supporting the Wisconsin Ag Education Workforce Development Council’s career resource - www.whyag.com.

• Providing support to the Wisconsin Environmental Education Foundation for educational resources and projects.

• Providing financial support for the Wisconsin FFA’s Discussion Meet awards and Food for America program.

• Co-sponsoring the Farm Bureau’s annual FFA Farm Forum which provides leadership training for FFA members.

• Contributing to the University of Wisconsin’s Rural Youth Scholarship.

• Providing scholarships to Farm Bureau members enrolled in Leadership Wisconsin.

• Offering continued support for the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center’s educational displays and tours.

Farm Bureau Staff Administration

Member Relations

Bill Bruins, WFBF President 608.828.5700

Bob Leege, Executive Director 608.828.5710

Roger Cliff, Chief Administrative Officer 608.828.5703

Deb Raemisch, Director 608.828.5712

Becky Schollian, Executive Assistant 608.828.5701

Public Relations

Dale Beaty

608.828.5714

Darlene Arneson

608.828.5719

Training and Leadership Development

Casey Langan, Executive Director 608.828.5711

Foundation Director, AITC Coordinator

Sheri Sutton, Communications Director 608.828.5706

Christy Strobel, District 1 Coordinator 866.355.7341

Amy Manske, Communications Coord. 608.828.5706

Becky Hurley, District 2 Coordinator 866.355.7342

Lynn Siekmann, Admin. Assistant 608.828.5707

Gretchen Kamps, District 3 Coordinator 866.355.7343

Governmental Relations Paul Zimmerman, Executive Director 608.828.5708 608.828.5713 Karen Gefvert, Director

Operations Jeff Fuller, Executive Director 608.828.5715 Steve Mason, General Accountant 608.828.5720 Jill Bennwitz, Administrative Assistant 608.828.5705

Steve Boe, District 4 Coordinator 866.355.7344 Becky Hibicki, District 5 Coordinator 866.355.2029 Kimberly Rusch, District 6 Coordinator 866.355.7345 Wes Raddatz, District 7 Coordinator 866.355.7346 Lindsey Prahl, District 8 Coordinator 866.355.7348 Wendy Kannel, District 9 Coordinator 866.355.7349 Darci Meili, Administrative Assistant 608.828.5704

Membership Membership growth is a top priority for Farm Bureau. A growing membership provides more than financial stability; it also ensures that Farm Bureau will continue to have a growing pool of active, enthusiastic leaders who will contribute their ideas and energy to building stronger programs while strengthening Farm Bureau’s voice at the county, state and national levels.

Through the efforts of Farm Bureau volunteers and Rural Mutual Insurance agents across Wisconsin, Farm Bureau membership grew to 44,123 members in 2011, representing the largest membership gain since 1992 and marking a fourth successive year of membership growth.

The combined efforts of 233 Farm Bureau volunteer membership workers resulted in more than 800 new members joining the organization. Rural Mutual Insurance agents signed an additional 590 new voting members and 2,127 new associate members.

Forty-nine county Farm Bureaus achieved membership growth in 2011, and Wisconsin Farm Bureau was one of 38 states that posted a membership gain.

The 2012 membership year ends on September 28, and thanks to another year of outstanding cooperation between Farm Bureau and its affiliate companies, WFBF is poised for a fifth consecutive year of membership growth.

Wisconsin Farm Bureau Board of Directors: (first row, left to right) District 2 - Jerry Bradley, District 6 Director - Rosie Lisowe, District 5 - President Bill Bruins, Women’s Committee Chair - Kathleen Papcke, District 1 Director - Dave Daniels, (back row, left to right) District 3 Director - Vice President Richard Gorder, District 4 Director - Joe Bragger, District 9 Director - James Holte, District 7 Director - Wayne Staidl, Young Farmer and Agriculturist Chair - Josh Calaway and District 8 Director - Donald Radtke.

2012 Board of Directors Jim Holte

Josh Calaway

District 9, Elk Mound

Young Farmer and Agriculturist Chair Vesper

Don Radtke District 8, Merrill Bayfield

Wayne Staidl

Douglas

District 7, Peshtigo Iron

Rosie Lisowe

Ashland

District 6, Chilton Sawyer Price Polk

Rusk

Lincoln

Barron

Marinette

Langlade

Taylor Chippewa

St. Croix Dunn

Buffalo

Oconto

Marathon Eau Claire

Pierce

Clark Portage

Trempealeau

Wood

La Crosse

Juneau

Bill Bruins President District 5, Waupun

Vernon Crawford

Richland

Marquette Green Lake Columbia

Sauk

Grant Lafayette

Fond du Lac

Dodge

Jefferson

Iowa

Richard Gorder

Calumet Manitowoc

Winnebago

Monroe

Vice President District 3, Mineral Point

Jerry Bradley District 2, Sun Prairie

Rock

Sheboygan

Washington Ozaukee Waukesha

Dane

Green

Kewaunee

Outagamie

Waushara

Adams

Joe Bragger

Brown Waupaca

Jackson

District 4, Independence

Door

Shawano

Walworth

Dave Daniels District 1 Union Grove

Milwaukee Racine Kenosha

Kathleen Papcke Women’s Committee Chair Elkhorn