Vermont Farm Bureau Unites State Agriculture Organizations

In October 2024, Vermont Farm Bureau hosted the Bridging the Divide conference, bringing together representatives from 16 agriculture-related groups in the state to identify shared priorities so they can better advocate for agriculture in a unified voice.

The Vermont Agency for Food and Agriculture participated in the conference as well, with state Secretary of Agriculture Anson Tebbetts kicking off the event by emphasizing how important it is that the groups work together.

The groups came prepared to discuss their perspectives on the positive aspects of Vermont agriculture, as well as where they saw challenges. In addition, they shared their own organization’s priorities for the upcoming legislative session. This laid the foundation for finding several areas of consensus.

Passage of a new, modernized farm bill was a top concern for all the groups, as was the need for the groups to work together as a coalition on issues addressed by the Legislature in Vermont, where farmers, horticulturalists, foresters and others involved in agriculture are in the minority.

The groups also committed to coming together annually to review their goals and further identify common priorities.

Strategic Action Fund

Vermont’s event was funded through a grant from the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Strategic Action Fund. Through the fund, state Farm Bureaus with fewer than 25,000 members were eligible to apply for funding of up to $5,000 for projects that address AFBF’s board-adopted 2024 priority issues or address an organizational need that supports advocacy around priority issues.

Several state Farm Bureaus – Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas – each contributed at least $1,000 to the Strategic Action Fund for the 2024 round of projects.