National Farmers Union Convention
TGIF!
Let me tell you, it's been a long week. This last Saturday Roy, Melise, and myself drove up to Rapid City, SD for the National Farmers Union 2010 Convention.
It's about a 5.5 hour drive from our home. Roy took us on a short cut up through the Peetz, CO wind farm. If you haven't been up close to a big wind farm, I recommend the drive through the Peetz area. I neglected to take pictures, but the sight is pretty cool. The wind was blowing, so we stopped the car, turned off the engine, rolled down the windows and listened - just a slight hum. That's a relief because there's talk of a wind farm being built in our area, too! Now if only the blinking red lights on the things weren't so bright . . .
Crossing the border into NE, the wind farm suddenly ends. Nebraska's laws aren't conducive to establishing wind farms. That's unfortunate for the farmers who own land with a high wind value.
We stopped in Sidney, NE for breakfast at McDonald's. Sydney is the home of the first Cabela's Store (a sports and hunting department store). For a small, rural town a big business like Cabela's keeps the town from withering away.
We stopped in Alliance, NE for a break. Melise can only handle so much time in a car! She enjoyed running around a quilting shop in down town Alliance that is having a close-out sale. It was sad to look up and down that main street and see several stores closing.
About three hours later, we were in Rapid City and checking into the Ramkota.
The reason for the NFU annual convention is to mold their policy to represent the concerns and beliefs of the members. The policy is used by NFU's elected officials and lobbyists to guide their words and actions where it counts, like in DC. Roy was a delegate to the National Farmers' Union Convention and also a member of the Policy Committee. The policy committee guides the delegates as they go through each line of the policy, correcting, modifying, creating new lines, and finally accepting the new policy.
Due to Roy's position on the policy committee, we were invited to a supper Saturday night at Mt. Rushmore. I had previously lived in SD, but I had somehow missed seeing Mt Rushmore, so it was quite the treat to eat supper while looking out the window at a national monument. And I forgot my camera - drat!
I snuck off the next day to visit Wall, SD where I used to live. I visited a few friends and had lunch at Wall Drug. If you ever take a road trip through SD, consider stopping in Wall to walk down main street. Try the cake donuts at Wall Drug - best in the world! And if you need a place to stay, check out Dakota Memories Bed and Breakfast. I returned in time for the opening banquet of the convention . . .
A Lakota hoop dancer who performed at the opening banquet. I would love to tell you her name because she won the national hoop dancing competition, but I missed the introduction.
It turned out that being on the policy committee was a big responsibility, requiring Roy to be in non-stop meetings from Sunday morning through Tuesday night. It was a lot of work, but he loved every second of it. I think he was born to debate policy! I barely saw him the whole time except at supper time. After supper, he would disappear again to socialize with other NFU delegates, members, NFU staff and elected officials. He had a great time.
Roy sitting with the rest of the policy committee during policy discussion.
For those of us who were not on the policy committee, the NFU kept us busy as well. There was a bus trip to Mt Rushmore on Sunday and many interesting speakers on Monday, including Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. Tom Vilsack is a good speaker - very easy to listen to. I just wish I could have listened to his whole presentation. Unfortunately, Melise developed a cold while we were in Rapid and I just couldn't keep her happy for any extended period of time. So I attempted to listen to Tom Vilsack for a few minutes, but then I had to run out of the room with Melise crying on my shoulder. Almost the second we crossed the threshold she stopped crying - go figure! That was kinda my luck the whole weekend.
Roy speaking as a delegate to propose changes to policy.
I think there's a lot of value in the NFU. It is an advocate for the farmers, a source of valuable education, and an organizational base for cooperatives that provide better business for both the producer and the consumer. If you think about the drive we took to get to Rapid, there were a lot of people along that route that will benefit from NFU's actions every year. Farmers tend to live in rural areas that could die without the support of NFU looking out for farmers, ranchers, rural businesses and coops. Nebraska farmers will someday get their wind farms and it will be partially thanks to the farmers' union because it will have a policy advocating on their behalf. The farmers' union watches out for the welfare of the consumers as much as it does for the farmers by making sure local, healthy products make it to market. There are even chapters being created to include the consumers into the NFU - check out the new Denver chapter!
Well I hope that I do the NFU a little justice in this blog and that it is obvious to everyone that I like them. With that said, I was sure happy to get home! It was a long weekend with a sick toddler and now I'm sitting here with the sniffles of my own and a pile of soggy kleenex! After the last few weeks in CA, PA, and SD, I just want to stay home for a while!
Melise with Annie Oakley at Wall Drug.
Let me tell you, it's been a long week. This last Saturday Roy, Melise, and myself drove up to Rapid City, SD for the National Farmers Union 2010 Convention.
It's about a 5.5 hour drive from our home. Roy took us on a short cut up through the Peetz, CO wind farm. If you haven't been up close to a big wind farm, I recommend the drive through the Peetz area. I neglected to take pictures, but the sight is pretty cool. The wind was blowing, so we stopped the car, turned off the engine, rolled down the windows and listened - just a slight hum. That's a relief because there's talk of a wind farm being built in our area, too! Now if only the blinking red lights on the things weren't so bright . . .
Crossing the border into NE, the wind farm suddenly ends. Nebraska's laws aren't conducive to establishing wind farms. That's unfortunate for the farmers who own land with a high wind value.
We stopped in Sidney, NE for breakfast at McDonald's. Sydney is the home of the first Cabela's Store (a sports and hunting department store). For a small, rural town a big business like Cabela's keeps the town from withering away.
We stopped in Alliance, NE for a break. Melise can only handle so much time in a car! She enjoyed running around a quilting shop in down town Alliance that is having a close-out sale. It was sad to look up and down that main street and see several stores closing.
About three hours later, we were in Rapid City and checking into the Ramkota.
The reason for the NFU annual convention is to mold their policy to represent the concerns and beliefs of the members. The policy is used by NFU's elected officials and lobbyists to guide their words and actions where it counts, like in DC. Roy was a delegate to the National Farmers' Union Convention and also a member of the Policy Committee. The policy committee guides the delegates as they go through each line of the policy, correcting, modifying, creating new lines, and finally accepting the new policy.
Due to Roy's position on the policy committee, we were invited to a supper Saturday night at Mt. Rushmore. I had previously lived in SD, but I had somehow missed seeing Mt Rushmore, so it was quite the treat to eat supper while looking out the window at a national monument. And I forgot my camera - drat!
I snuck off the next day to visit Wall, SD where I used to live. I visited a few friends and had lunch at Wall Drug. If you ever take a road trip through SD, consider stopping in Wall to walk down main street. Try the cake donuts at Wall Drug - best in the world! And if you need a place to stay, check out Dakota Memories Bed and Breakfast. I returned in time for the opening banquet of the convention . . .
It turned out that being on the policy committee was a big responsibility, requiring Roy to be in non-stop meetings from Sunday morning through Tuesday night. It was a lot of work, but he loved every second of it. I think he was born to debate policy! I barely saw him the whole time except at supper time. After supper, he would disappear again to socialize with other NFU delegates, members, NFU staff and elected officials. He had a great time.
Roy sitting with the rest of the policy committee during policy discussion.
For those of us who were not on the policy committee, the NFU kept us busy as well. There was a bus trip to Mt Rushmore on Sunday and many interesting speakers on Monday, including Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. Tom Vilsack is a good speaker - very easy to listen to. I just wish I could have listened to his whole presentation. Unfortunately, Melise developed a cold while we were in Rapid and I just couldn't keep her happy for any extended period of time. So I attempted to listen to Tom Vilsack for a few minutes, but then I had to run out of the room with Melise crying on my shoulder. Almost the second we crossed the threshold she stopped crying - go figure! That was kinda my luck the whole weekend.
I think there's a lot of value in the NFU. It is an advocate for the farmers, a source of valuable education, and an organizational base for cooperatives that provide better business for both the producer and the consumer. If you think about the drive we took to get to Rapid, there were a lot of people along that route that will benefit from NFU's actions every year. Farmers tend to live in rural areas that could die without the support of NFU looking out for farmers, ranchers, rural businesses and coops. Nebraska farmers will someday get their wind farms and it will be partially thanks to the farmers' union because it will have a policy advocating on their behalf. The farmers' union watches out for the welfare of the consumers as much as it does for the farmers by making sure local, healthy products make it to market. There are even chapters being created to include the consumers into the NFU - check out the new Denver chapter!
Well I hope that I do the NFU a little justice in this blog and that it is obvious to everyone that I like them. With that said, I was sure happy to get home! It was a long weekend with a sick toddler and now I'm sitting here with the sniffles of my own and a pile of soggy kleenex! After the last few weeks in CA, PA, and SD, I just want to stay home for a while!
Melise with Annie Oakley at Wall Drug.
Posted by Susan at March 19, 2010 
Categories: Rural Living
Tags: nfu rocky mountian farmers union wind farm rapid city convention peetz national farmers union
Categories: Rural Living
Tags: nfu rocky mountian farmers union wind farm rapid city convention peetz national farmers union
Comments