The Importance of Ag Membership

By Bruce Schultz

I’ve learned several important lessons in agriculture during my decades of farming experience. One important one, is it’s harder to go it alone, than it is to be part of an agricultural group.

My wife, Wendy, and I, are members of several organizations, some based in agriculture, others not. We have found that having a collective voice gives us a better handle on what is going on in our local community, state and nation. Our agriculture memberships are important to us, in our never-ending quest to stay profitable. Every group we belong to fits a different niche.

The group we are most involved with, is the National Farmers’ Organization (NFO). We have been members since the day we purchased our first cows. NFO offers the tools we need to not just sell our animals, but market them for what they are truly worth. Whether it is calves that go to feedlots or culls going to slaughter, we sell together with our friends and neighbors.

This gives us a larger say in the marketplace. By marketing our animals together, it allows us to split our steer and heifers into weight breaks that fit each calf correctly. This allows us to merchandise our animals more effectivley, therefore, maximizing our dollars. We receive more money, per pound, on 500-pound animals, than we do on our 700-pounders.

All our calves are sorted into load lots of likesize animals. No one buying 700-pound steers wants anything close to 500 pounds coming off the truck. Like most ranchers, we get one big check a year.

It is nice to know our friends are in the same mindset we are. As a group, we listen to many opinions and there is always discussion before a deal is made. It feels satisfying, when 15 ranchers are on the same page and all pulling together, to make each of us successful financially.

We are also members of R-CALF. I have attended their national convention several times, and our state NFO has invited R-CALF speakers to our state meetings. R-CALF fits a niche that we could not afford to fill, as individual ranchers. Their goal and purpose, is to fight the large multi-national companies, which dominate our food processing system.

I have always been a proponent of “Country of Origin” labeling. That is one of R-CALF’s banner issues. The group brings together not just ranchers’ voices, but also their accumulative financial power, as well. This allows our voices to be amplified. Alone, we never could have that much power.

The Montana Farmers’ Union (MFU) is another group which we are deeply involved with. They fill another niche in our ranching life. Their big three issues are: cooperation; education and legislation. Wendy and I have been active in all these segments.

Like many states, Montana needs more livestock processing facilities. The MFU addressed this need, by starting a processing plant in Havre, Mont. The plant will work with the state university in Havre, as they begin a meat processing curriculum. Wendy and I invested money toward the plant, and are now members of the processing co-op – Montana Premium Processing.

We have delivered some animals to that facility and we’re glad they perform quality work at reasonable prices. The education arm of the MFU is a strong component of the success of that organization. Our son and daughter attended MFU’s summer camp for four years, learning about co-ops and other farming issues.

We traveled to Washington, D.C., for their fly-in during discussions of the last farm bill. And, this past state legislative session in Helena, Mont., I took part in a few days of lobbying, and testified in favor of Country of Origin labeling on a state level.

We are members of a few other ag groups, too, but NFO, R-CALF and MFU offer elements quite different from one another. Each has a role in allowing us to stay profitable and to keep involved in the ranching business.

I do not know if we could be as successful as we are, without being a member of these groups. Farmers really want to be a part of something, it is just that simple. No one likes going it alone.

I encourage you to get involved in your area ag groups. Our voices only get louder when we use them together.