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Editor’s Note: Following are portions of Mr. Stallman’s remarks delivered to the Hardin County Farm Bureau annual meeting Aug. 22.

I am pleased to be with you tonight. No, I am proud to be with you tonight at one of our organization’s most important meetings. Similar county Farm Bureau get-togethers are happening throughout the country as farm families gather for the social fellowship and the industry leadership that is Farm Bureau.

The policies you adopt and forward on to the state or the American Farm Bureau guide this organization. You are a big help to me. I know exactly what you want done nationally and internationally. Together, we have been very successful. Farm Bureau is recognized around the world as “The Voice of Agriculture,” the most influential farm organization in the world. Trade negotiators from other countries want to know what our policy demands are. The media comes to Farm Bureau when they need facts and the farmer’s viewpoint. Elected leaders not only listen but they hear what we say.

Our success does not go unnoticed and the best indicator is our rising membership. Nationally, we expect a gain of more than 115,000 member families – that will put our membership over 5.2 million families concerned about improving rural America.

Ohio Farm Bureau will celebrate 35 straight years of membership growth – a remarkable accomplishment. Such growth proves that sound programs, prompt attention to member needs and cooperative effort toward a common goal offers a way for farm families to shape their own destiny.

Farm Bureau is so successful because of you here tonight and the hundreds of thousands of other concerned, informed and involved farm families. Farm Bureau members do not hesitate to stand up and speak out for our common values, our common policies, our common faith in America and American agriculture.

Our organization is one of the few that puts our goals on paper, for the world to read. Our policy book is the result of countless discussions among members, deciding what course is best for all of agriculture, not a specific commodity or a privileged few. By focusing on our policies, we work together to achieve our goals. And we are successful.

Of the thousands of special interest groups working in Washington, D.C., Farm Bureau is widely recognized as the most influential. That is not because of our lobbyists. It is because of you and your neighbor, contacting elected officials to let them know how the laws they write affect working farm families.

Farm Bureau is people – people working together for positive results. Our efforts to accomplish our policy goals will succeed only with your help and guidance. Strong county Farm Bureaus are the key. I know county Farm Bureaus in Ohio are great – President Terry McClure is constantly telling me so. I also know you can be greater.

I look forward to working with you, implementing our national and international policies, creating and offering beneficial programs and services – working to better Farm Bureau and America.