Iowa Farm Bureau Federation

“The organization has members. Any person may be a county Farm Bureau member. All county Farm Bureau members have voting rights and the same access to member benefits.”

“The organizations members elect the Board of Directors.”

“Certain rights are reserved to members of the organization, including: 1) elect the Board of Directors, including the voting delegate to the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, 2) adopt amendments to the Articles of Incorporation, and 3) adopt amendments to those bylaws designated as member bylaws.”

“Management reviews the documents and presents the return to all members of the governing body. Following final board approval, the return is signed by an officer and submitted to the IRS.”

“On an annual basis, all officers, directors, and key employees are required to sign a statement which affirms that they have: 1) received a copy of the conflict of interest policy, 2) read and understood the policy, 3) agreed to comply with the policy, 4) understand that the Organization is tax-exempt and in order to maintain its federal tax exemption it must engage primarily in activities which accomplish its tax-exempt purpose. A sub-committee, comprised of non-conflicted Board of Directors, annually receives all conflict of interest information, reviews, and determines if there are conflicts of interest. The committee then reports its findings back to the Board.”

“The Organization does not make its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, or financial statements available for public inspection. Pursuant to state law, some documents may be available to members.”

“Bailey Henze and Dalton Henze have a family relationship.”

“Part III, Line 4a - Public Relations - Grundy County Farm Bureau hosted a Celebration of Ag in March 2024. The event was held at a local venue and partially funded by sponsorships from area, mostly agriculture-related businesses. There were three levels of sponsorships - Blue Ribbon, Reserve Grand Champion and Grand Champion. A sponsorship entitled the business to eight tickets to the event to share with employees or clients. The event included a catered meal and entertainment, in 2024 - Aaron Putze, a motivational speaker from Des Moines. There were over 200 people in attendance. At the county fair in July, GCFB partnered with Grundy County Cattlemen and Ag Vantage FS and served grilled hamburgers with chips and water to 600+ people. In December, the board applied for a grant from the Iowa Beef Industry Council and received beef certificates. Ten days before Christmas, board members delivered the beef certificates, eggs, cake mix, five lbs. of potatoes, vegetable oil, frosting, frozen pie and dinner rolls, whipped topping, vegetables, cocoa mix, and a gift card to the local grocery store. Forty-five of these bundles were donated to Operation Threshold - a local Food Pantry. The promotion was advertised to local media and social media. Posters about the benefits of real meat were posted at grocery stores.”

“Part III, Line 4b - Public Policy - The board of directors generated an opinionnaire in April that was distributed to all members with an email address on file. It was also offered as a paper copy, via several Spokesman articles and Facebook posts, to members without emails. This gave our full membership the opportunity to voice their opinions on issues that are important on a local, state, and national level. The results were tabulated, and policy was approved by members at the Policy Development Meeting in the summer. Board members also lobbied our state legislators throughout the year at local town hall meetings, at the Capitol in Des Moines and via personal phone calls.”

“Part III, Line 4c - Ag in the Classroom - Grundy County Farm Bureaus Ag in the Classroom coordinator has been busy adding classrooms and other activities to her schedule. She does classroom visits once a month with a new topic of interest each month. Farm Chats are often used in conjunction with the classroom visit. The coordinator also integrates a hands-on activity into the visit - sometimes a snack or just a fun craft project. Agriculture-focused activities were provided during Kids Day at the county fair. Grundy County Farm Bureau also awarded five scholarships in 2024 to local seniors for two- or four-year degrees or trade school.”