November 15, 2018—United States Senators Mike Enzi and John Barrasso and Congresswoman Liz Cheney, all R-Wyo., were each named a “Friend of Farm Bureau” for the 115th Congress for their support of America’s farmers and ranchers and food security for consumers. This award, presented by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), is given to members of Congress who have supported Farm Bureau’s position on policy issues as demonstrated by their voting records. (more…)
November 15, 2018–Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation (WyFB) Executive Vice President Ken Hamilton was awarded the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation Distinguished Service Award at the 99th annual meeting of the organization. Presented Nov. 8, the award is given to those who have gone above and beyond in their service to agriculture. (more…)
November 13, 2018—Food issues and labeling, regulatory overreach, taxes, and voting procedures were among the many topics included in policies adopted at the 99th annual meeting of the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation (WyFB). Held Nov. 7-9 in Sheridan, Wyo., the meeting is an important step in the grassroots policy development process of Farm Bureau. (more…)
SHERIDAN, Nov. 9, 2018—Todd Fornstrom, of Laramie County, was elected to his third term as President of the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation (WyFB) at the organization’s 99th annual meeting in Sheridan.
“Serving as president of the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation is very rewarding and I appreciate the opportunity to serve,” Fornstrom stated. “Advocating for agriculture is something Farm Bureau members do every day and I’m honored to be counted in that group as your Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation President.” (more…)
“Saddle Up for the Next Century” is the theme of the 99th Annual Meeting of the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation (WyFB). The meeting will be Nov. 7-9, 2018 in Sheridan at the Holiday Inn.
“Annual meeting is a lot like harvest…the culmination of a year’s worth of grassroots efforts,” WyFB President Todd Fornstrom said. “We work through the year dealing with Mother Nature, markets and government regulation with an idea in the back of our minds on how to improve our way of life by way of policy development.” (more…)
–Competitions in Sheridan, Application Deadline Oct. 25, 2018
Farm Bureau members between the ages of 18-35 and college students in Wyoming are invited to participate in the 2018 Discussion Meet competitions. There are two different competitions that will be held during the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation (WyFB) Annual Meeting in Sheridan in November. (more…)
September 25, 2018—The Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation is disappointed by the Sept. 24 ruling by a federal judge to return the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear to the endangered species list and thus federal management–contrary to the recommendation of 20 years of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service research.
“This shows that the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is never about science but rather it is about emotion,” said Ken Hamilton, Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation Executive Vice President. “Anytime recovery goals are established you know that those goals are going to be rejected by the judicial branch and some well-heeled environmental lawyers/groups.” (more…)
By Cyndi Johnson
I farm grain in Montana on the Rocky Mountain Front. Sixty miles to the west are mountains with gorgeous rolling hills, but the rest of our landscape is flat—not exactly prime grizzly bear habitat. However, someone forgot to tell the bears.
The Endangered Species Act lists the grizzly bear as threatened in the Mountain Prairie region of the American West, except for right around Yellowstone Park. The federal government controls the management of this bear although the original intent of the ESA was to include state and local governments, as well as farmers and ranchers, in the decision-making. (more…)
What is worse: Bears or bureaucrats? Mountain States Legal Foundation’s client and Farm Bureau member, Mary A. “Mickey” Thoman, raises that question in an op-ed published this morning in USA Today. Mickey is an 88-year-old great-grandmother whose family has been raising sheep in western Wyoming for generations. However, a swelling population of grizzly bears has killed hundreds of her sheep and forced her to give up her family’s long-held grazing land.
Read opinion editorial here
As wildfires ravage parts of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming—sending smoke clear across the country to New England—farmers and ranchers in 13 Western states are calling on the federal government to put in place more effective land management practices and policies. (more…)
