By Kentucky Farm Bureau First Vice President Shane Wiseman

As we move closer to the time for Kentucky Farm Bureau’s (KFB) annual meeting, I’m reminded of how important our KFB advisory committees are to the success of this organization as they are meeting now and proposing policy recommendations.

We have more than two dozen advisory committees that deal with topics ranging from all the farm commodities common in Kentucky to issues of importance to rural areas.

Their recommendations along with many proposals that come from county Farm Bureau meetings will go before our Resolutions Committee members when they convene in November at the state office. These members are elected in their respective districts and will discuss every resolution recommendation that has been offered. Each year we will see around 1,000 different resolutions.

All resolution proposals will be considered by the committee. As part of this process, agreed-upon policy recommendations will then be sent to and voted on by member delegates during our annual meeting.

This process of adopting policy from the grassroots level has served KFB well for more than a century. I think it is one of the things that makes KFB so successful and unique.  As first vice president, I am honored to be taking over the role of Resolutions Committee Chair.

While I am very familiar with our resolution process, it is always exciting to see this advocacy in action each year and to hear from our members about issues that are affecting their farms, their communities, and the agriculture industry that sustains us all.

We have often seen many of our policies and priorities become the basis for consideration on certain pieces of legislation at both the state and national levels.

That one conversation that takes place in a county meeting or through an advisory committee meeting can often turn into a new law that benefits farm families across this state and perhaps the entire country.

We don’t take it lightly or for granted. It is a part of the foundation that supports our organization and enables us to continue to be the Voice of Kentucky Agriculture.

My promise to our members, as I become Resolutions Committee Chair, is to do my very best to support this process that has stood the test of time for decades and will continue to do so for generations of KFB members to come.

This model of grassroots advocacy has served KFB well since its beginning more than 100 years ago. I hope that in the next 100 years, whoever will be serving as leaders of this organization can look back in time and see the value in this tradition and the efforts put forth by so many from so long ago, as we do now.  

Shane Wiseman
KFB 1st Vice President

Permission is granted to reprint this article in its entirety in both print and online formats. Credit to: Kentucky Farm Bureau News.