2022 Tennessee Farm Bureau policies
Policies which will guide the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation advocacy efforts in 2022 were adopted and finalized by the House of Delegates at the 100th annual meeting on December 7, 2021.
Several new policies were added by the voting delegates representing all types of farming operations across the state. In addition, other existing policies were amended to reflect law or regulatory changes. Below are some of the more significant policy changes.
AGRICULTURE IN THE CLASSROOM:
Delegates added language to ensure Agriculture in the Classroom materials are available and encouraged to be taught to all Tennessee students.
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION AND CAREER & TECHNICAL EDUCATION:
The Agricultural and Family & Consumer Science Education policy was renamed Agricultural Education and Career & Technical Education to encompass the broad scope of vocational education. Several changes were made throughout the policy for the purpose of modernization and to ensure the education system produces college and career ready graduates. Additionally, policy was added suggesting the Tennessee Department of Education and Department of Labor and Workforce Development recognize agriculture careers are much broader than those identified as farming and production agriculture. Delegates believed the Tennessee Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment should consider the full scope of skills available to be learned in agriculture education.
ECONOMIC POLICY:
Policy was added to acknowledge events which can cause destabilized global supply chains. The language suggests policy makers must act quickly and focus investments on the infrastructure weaknesses highlighted and address the regulations that are stifling an efficient and effective supply chain system. Also, policy was added stating Farm Bureau should monitor the emerging concept of cryptocurrencies.
DAIRY:
Policy which was recommended by the Dairy Commodity Advisory Committee was approved by voting delegates. The new policy supports calculating the price for Class 1 milk to ensure dairy farmers receive the best price despite fluctuating market conditions. The current method as developed in the 2018 Farm Bill did not provide farmers true market potential for Class 1 price. Returning to the “higher of” (selecting the higher price between Class III and Class IV) at this time seems preferable. If other options are proposed, the policy suggests those should be reviewed. Additionally, language was added stating future Federal Milk Marketing Order modifications must balance simplification and ease of understanding the effectiveness with a renewed focus on education and that regional differences should be acknowledged to benefit farmers in those regions.
LIVESTOCK MARKETING:
Language was added to support efforts for producers to provide high quality finished cattle for both domestic consumption and export markets and to encourage local stockyards to sort cattle for top sale dollar.
PACKER CONCENTRATION AND VERTICAL INTEGRATION:
Voting delegates added policy to support legislation which would:
• Utilize USDA to provide producers with key details on cattle contracts with packers and stockyards.
• Require packers to report terms of marketing agreements with producers.
• Provide regional minimum negotiated trade.
PROPERTY RIGHTS:
Through a lack of estate planning, there is property in Tennessee which has been passed to the landowner’s heirs as tenants-in-common under state law. Tenants-in-common who meet the definition of Heirs Property can be vulnerable to wide range of challenges in their efforts to manage the property. Therefore, voting delegates added policy to support the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act which provides a series of simple due process protections to resolve ownership issues.
TENNESSEE JUDICIAL SYSTEM:
A statement was added to support maintaining the current method of selecting the Tennessee Attorney General and Reporter.