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Article: A place at the table: NFU delegates carry family farmer concerns to Capitol Hill, White House.
- Article from:
- Rural Cooperatives
- Article date:
- May 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Business - Cooperative Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Standing at the speakers' podium of the National Farmers Union (NFU) annual meeting in Washington, D.C., in March, Wes Niederman was helping to herd a blizzard of NFU policy positions toward resolution. It was a day-long example of democracy in action as 600 members (142 of them voting delegates) from around the nation discussed and debated issues that eventually filled 200 pages of policy positions--many of them issues that could have a major impact on the continued viability of family farming.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch (literally) in North Dakota, it was calving time, and Niederman's family was dealing with a very different kind of blizzard--one that roared ...