American Farm Bureau Federation
Lobbying group in the United States / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), more informally called the American Farm Bureau (AFB) or simply the Farm Bureau, is a United States-based 501(c)(5) tax-exempt agricultural organization and lobbying group.[1] Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Farm Bureau has affiliates in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Each affiliate is a (state or county) Farm Bureau, and the parent organization is also often called simply the Farm Bureau.
Established | 1919; 105 years ago (1919) |
---|---|
Founder | John Barron |
Type | Lobbying organization |
Focus | Agriculture |
Location | |
Area served | United States |
Method | Lobbying |
Key people | Vincent "Zippy" Duvall (President) |
Website | www |
Founded in 1919,[2] the AFBF represents the 2 million farms in the United States, and is among the agriculture industry's largest lobby groups.[3][4] Some observers contend that its federal lobbying efforts, which began in the 1930s, helped drive the subsequent three-decade shift to larger farms.[5]
In 2022, the AFBF spent $2,120,000 on lobbying,[6] including for policies benefitting the for-profit activities of state farm bureaus, such as federal subsidies for the crop insurance sold by affiliate companies.[7][8] Until 2019, it denied that climate change was real.[9]
AFBF itself does not sell insurance, but all but a handful of its non-profit state affiliates have affiliated for-profit insurance companies. Most of AFBF's revenue comes from dues paid by its nearly 5.9 million members,[10] most of whom are not farmers but insurance customers who pay the dues as a condition of their policies.[11]
Every year, the organization holds an annual convention and adopts new policies to guide its work. The convention is attended by farmer and rancher delegates from across the United States.[12]