The lawsuit is in response to the American Farm Bureau expelling the Illinois group on Tuesday.
MOLINE, Ill. — The Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) filed a lawsuit against the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) in the McLean County Circuit Court on Wednesday.
The state organization is suing the national group after a decision by AFBF to expel the Illinois farmer group on Tuesday. The disagreement stems from a membership change within IFB.
“We are the largest general farm organization in the country and it’s not surprising that we have disagreements within the organization from time to time,” AFBF Executive Vice President Job Young said in a statement to News 8. “The AFBF board’s decision to end the membership of Illinois Farm Bureau in the federation follows weeks of intensive efforts to meet with their leadership, which concluded with formal mediation. Unfortunately, it did not resolve the dispute.”
The Illinois Farm Bureau has two kinds of members — farmer and association membership. In September, IFB and Country Financial Insurance, one of its affiliated organizations, decided that as of Jan. 1, they would no longer require all insurance customers to become IFB members.
Nearly 400,000 people belong to the Illinois group with over 70,000 of them being farmers. Associate members pay $20 annually. The national group is paid $5 per member — a potential loss of about $1.5 million dollars.
IFB is now pursuing legal action, citing an agreement signed in the 1990s that forbids the national group from kicking out the state based on business decisions of its affiliated companies.
“AFBF is clearly ignoring this agreement by claiming that IFB must be held accountable for the actions of Country Financial, one of IFB’s affiliates,” IFB President and Polo farmer Brian Duncan said in a press release.
“At the heart of the matter for our board is the fact that farmers did not control an important member decision that will harm farmers and farm bureau,” Young said in a statement.
“AFBF touts its representation of American farmers and ranchers. Yet, it sources much of its stature and perceived power from people who are not farmers, but insurance customers,” Duncans said. “When membership for these individuals in Illinois becomes voluntary, AFBF’s response is to abandon the very people it claims to represent farmers.”
IFB ensures despite the changes to membership they will continue to support their county organizations and approve a “significant financial” grant program.
Farm Progress reports the Alabama Farmers Federation left in 1981 and later rejoined the national organization in 2005. The national group has nearly six million members.
