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Former Ohio Farm Bureau President A.I. "Irv" Bell of Muskingum County has been named to an American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) study group that will address issues affecting the future of U.S. agriculture and develop policy options to help Farm Bureau members be productive and profitable for years to come.

"I commend AFBF for forming this study committee," Bell said. "I think the intent to create a report that is useful will help AFBF develop a plan of action."

Bell, also a member of the Nationwide board of directors, said he thought profits would be the focus of the study group. "Agriculture has shown it can be productive. Somehow we have to be profitable, too. As a fifth generation farmer with the sixth generation actively involved, profits are most important."

After announcing the formation of the group, AFBF President Bob Stallman said: "Issues such as ongoing trade negotiations, changing societal expectations, budgetary concerns, mounting regulatory burdens and the growing emergence of environmental concerns are having an impact on U.S. agriculture. We need a structural framework to debate these issues in detail."

The AFBF Agricultural Policy Study: Making American Agriculture Productive and Profitable (MAAPP) is a two-year project to address farm issues and develop policy options to be considered by the AFBF board of directors and voting delegates.

"The policy options will be aimed at increasing the profitability of agriculture, enhancing the image of producers as good stewards of natural resources and improving the ability of farmers and ranchers to provide safe, high-quality food and fiber for American consumers," Stallman said. "This approach will help our members manage risks, both short and long term."

In order to formulate policy options, the study group will review economic trends affecting agriculture, study foreign and domestic agricultural policy and consider other policy areas, such as marketing, consumer perspectives and technology, that have an economic effect on agriculture. The resulting policy proposals will be aimed at making U.S. agriculture productive and profitable through the year 2019, the 100th anniversary of AFBF.

William R. Sprague, a member of the Kentucky Farm Bureau board of directors, will chair the MAAPP study group, and Ron Warfield, president of Illinois Farm Bureau, will serve as vice-chairman. In addition to Bell, other members of the MAAPP group are Bill Bruins, Wisconsin; Edward K. Davidian, Massachusetts; David M. Dooley, Mississippi; Timothy M. Dunn, Arizona; Hugh M. English, Florida; Jim T. Harper, Louisiana; Craig Hill, Iowa; Paul Iverson, Oregon; Thomas (Tom) Jones, Arkansas; Matthew James Lohr, Virginia; Christopher L. Mann, Indiana; Robyn Meenach, Washington; Curt Mowery, Texas; Steve Nelson, Nebraska; Edwin Raak, Michigan; Andrea N. Semmel, Pennsylvania; Alan E. States, Kansas; Mike Vereschagin, California; Lawrence L. Weathers, South Carolina; and Paul H. Zittel, New York.