Who We Are
The Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation is the state’s largest organization of farmers and ranchers with over 2,500 farmer/rancher member families.
Their voices are combined with nearly 7,500 associate member families who support agriculture and private property rights and are committed to protecting Wyoming’s farms and ranches. Our members live in all 23 Wyoming counties. The American Farm Bureau Federation has close to six million member families.
The Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation, which is financed by membership dues, is a grassroots agriculture organization that begins with individual ranchers/farmers, recognizing issues of concern to agriculture and discussing them with fellow members. Discussions continue through county, district and state levels to formulate the policies which guide the work of the Federation. Resolutions with national impact are discussed at the national level as well.
The Wyoming Farm Bureau is dedicated to the principles upon which our nation was built: constitutional government, the competitive enterprise system, private property rights and individual freedom. We believe it is the right of citizens to organize and speak through one voice, using the principle of uniting to get things done on the basis of majority decision after discussion and debate.
What We Do for Wyoming
Agriculture keeps Wyoming strong; the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation keeps agriculture strong!
The primary goals of the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation are to represent the voices of Wyoming farmers and ranchers through grassroots policy development while focusing on protecting private property rights, strengthening agriculture, and supporting farm and ranch families through advocacy, education, and leadership development.
We work for you if your private property is your backyard in town or if your property is in the country.
Our work is driven by the policy book that is developed by Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation members starting at the grassroots level. We are your voice for agriculture in the legislative, regulatory, judicial and public arenas.
The Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation works diligently to:
- Limit taxes and government spending;
- Limit unnecessary and costly regulations;
- Ensure access to safe tools that are essential to the success of your farm or ranch; and
- Provide training opportunities through board meetings, workshops, county, district and state meetings and the Young Farmer & Rancher program.
The Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation’s Policy Development Process
Farm Bureau is a grassroots federation whose real power lies at the local level. The Federation operates within the scope of policies that originate at the county level. Policies cover a broad range of issues and include the interests of everyone in Wyoming who is directly or indirectly affected by agriculture.
The process begins when a member proposes a resolution at the county level. The county Farm Bureau Federation members study facts, discuss options and make recommendations. Resolutions that pass proceed from the county level to district, state and national levels where they are discussed at each level.
At the state level, Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation standing committees meet to make recommendations on resolutions for the entire voting delegate body to consider. Resolutions receiving support from the voting delegates enter the policy book and guide the work of the Federation for the coming year.
What agriculture does for Wyoming
Agriculture provides strength through open spaces, values, people and so much more. The economic value of agriculture in Wyoming is nearly two billion dollars (Wyoming Agricultural Statistics 2022). Additionally, agriculture has a ripple effect on local economies by putting money back into local communities with purchases at the implement dealers, veterinarian clinics, grocery stores and more.
Strength in Open Spaces
Agriculture land keeps Wyoming spaces open. This land provides clean air, clean water and critical habitat for Wyoming’s wildlife. This strengthens our tourism industry.
Strength in Our Values
The values of hard work, honesty, integrity, trust, and pride in our work run deep here in Wyoming.
Strength for Generations
For generations, farmers and ranchers have cared for the land and the animals. For generations, farmers and ranchers have produced food and fiber for our nation. For generations, farmers and ranchers have provided habitat for wildlife. For generations to come, they will continue to be a part of keeping Wyoming strong!
History of the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation
Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation is a unique agriculture organization. It was created by its members and continues to be operated by the members, who now number nearly 12,000. In 1920, food availability was a major concern of the American public and the highlight of agriculture’s challenges. World War I prompted the development of Farm Bureau organizations to help secure greater food production. An early historical account said, “These early community and county organizations of farm people did a great service in adding to the war food supply for the government Food Program in Wyoming.”
Aside from food production, Farm Bureau organizations were born with the main objective of solving problems involving “livestock and crop production, marketing, homemaking, training of boys and girls, and development of local leadership” at the community, county and state levels, the historical account also said.
The Agricultural Extension Service was fundamental in organizing and directing the efforts of the developing Farm Bureaus, most of which began in the late teens and early 1920s. Farm Bureau organizations provided an agricultural resource for the Extension Service to deliver producers the latest information gained from research in the Department of Agriculture, Ag Experiment stations, and colleges of agriculture.
Albert E. Bowman, the state Ag Extension director of that time, can be credited with starting the Farm Bureau in Wyoming. He traveled the state, met with agricultural producers and other organizations, and attended national meetings. By the fall of 1919, eleven county Farm Bureaus had been established in Wyoming. The American Farm Bureau was founded the same year.
The first Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation statewide meeting was held in January 1920. The work of the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation has formed a solid foundation of agriculture resources and service for our nation today and in the future.
The mission of the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation is:
“To represent the voices of Wyoming farmers and ranchers through grassroots policy development while focusing on protecting private property rights, strengthening agriculture, and supporting farm and ranch families through advocacy, education, and leadership development.”