Policy Development

January 17, 2012 - 11:30am

Washington Farm Bureau is a grassroots organization comprised of 25 county Farm Bureaus, each with a policy development committee. Current policies can easily be accessed by viewing the 2012 Public Policy Agenda or the 2012 Public Policy Book.

Farm Bureau members surface policy issues and work through their county Farm Bureau policy development committee or with a Washington Farm Bureau advisory committee in drafting resolution language. The county Farm Bureau board of directors or the appropriate Washington Farm Bureau advisory committee then considers the resolution. If approved, the resolution is submitted to the state Policy Development Committee for review.

Policy resolutions approved by the state Policy Development Committee are forwarded to voting delegates at the Washington Farm Bureau Annual Meeting in November for consideration. State policy resolutions adopted by the voting delegates become organizational policy for the following year. National policy resolutions adopted by the voting delegates are submitted to the American Farm Bureau Federation for review and consideration.

Farm Bureau members can receive a printed copy of the Washington Farm Bureau or the American Farm Bureau Federation policy book by contacting Jaime Rowland, WFB Public Policy Administrative Assistant, at (800) 331-3276. Electronic copies of the policy books can be sent via e-mail as a pdf file. A CD containing the two pdf files can also be mailed. To view the Washington Farm Bureau public policy book in html, click here.

For information about the American Farm Bureau Federation policy development process, go to www.fb.org.