Farm Bureau History
California Farm Bureau Federation (CFBF) was organized in 1914. The purpose of CFBF is to surface, analyze, and solve the problems of farmers and ranchers. By joining together, farmers and ranchers are able to accomplish much more than acting as individuals. Farm Bureau’s roots can be traced back to the Cooperative Extension System and today, Farm Bureau and the Cooperative Extension have a close working relationship.
Membership in Farm Bureau begins at the basic level, the county. This is where one joins the organization. Every county Farm Bureau is a member of California Farm Bureau Federation. CFBF has 53 county members. The state organization is a member of American Farm Bureau Federation. AFBF has 51 members, the 50 state federations plus the Farm Bureau representing Puerto Rico. The entire Farm Bureau organization represents 5 million farm families nationwide and nearly 90,000 of them reside in California.
While Farm Bureau does not affiliate itself with any political party, it does have a philosophical belief favoring the private competitive enterprise system, private property rights, and pricing determined by a free marketplace. Farm Bureau favors streamlined government regulation and fair taxation and it encourages its members to support candidates for public office who share these beliefs.
The county Farm Bureau delegates take the concerns and recommendations of its members to the state level by presenting, discussing, and voting on the issues at the California Farm Bureau Federation Annual Meeting. Issues of national or international interests are then forwarded to the American Farm Bureau Federation House of Delegates.