Kansas Farm Bureau Legal Foundation

“The actual form 990 will be reviewed by the audit committee of the board and highlights of the form 990 will be presented to the full board during the audit committee presentation made by accounting staff. If a member of the board is unable to attend the form 990 review, they may request a copy at the next board meeting.”

“All officers, directors, trustees and key employees will annually disclose or update to the president of the board of directors (on a form provided by the organization), their interests that could give rise to conflicts of interest. The interests include, but are not limited to, a list of family members, substantial business or investment holdings, and other transactions or affiliations with businesses and other organizations or those of family members. For each interest disclosed to the president, the president will determine whether to: (a) take no action; (b) assure full disclosure to the board of directors and other individuals covered by the policy; (c) ask the person to excuse themselves from participation in related discussions or decisions within the organization; or (d) ask the person to resign from his or her position in the organization. If the person refuses to resign, he/she would become subject to possible removal in accordance with the organization's removal procedures. The organization's ceo/general counsel will monitor proposals or ongoing transactions for conflicts of interest and disclose them to the president in order to deal with potential or actual conflicts, whether discovered before or after the transaction has occurred.”

“The president and ceo/general counsel of kansas farm bureau are covered by the policy on the process for evaluating performance and determining compensation. Evaluation and goal setting: each august the executive committee of the board will meet with each member of the leadership team to review prior performance and develop goals for the coming year. Said goals will be reduced to writing and agreed to by both the leadership team member and the executive committee of the board. The document will be submitted for approval by the entire kfb board. Quarterly review: at a quarterly meeting of the executive committee of the board, goals and progress will be reviewed. This meeting will facilitate open dialogue between members of the leadership team and the board through the executive committee. Any issues or areas of concern may be shared with the entire board. Evaluation and future goal settings: the following august, the executive committee of the board evaluates the leadership team and gives the summaries to the vice president of the board for presentation to the full board for informational purposes. During this evaluation process the leadership team and the executive committee will assess and develop goals for the coming year. Salary: following discussion of annual goals and progress, the executive committee reviews and develops a salary recommendation for presentation to the full board for approval and presentation to members of the leadership team. Use of survey data: human resources is responsible for using survey data of comparable positions for the evaluation of the market ranges for the kansas farm bureau leadership team members. (note: there is no published survey data available for the president of kansas farm bureau.) there are no conflicts of interests that exist with the person that reviews the data and makes the market range recommendation to the board or a committee of the board. Review of salary and market ranges: the executive committee of the board reviews current salaries and the upcoming year's market ranges. Recommendation of salary: the executive committee reports to the full board on salaries for the president & ceo/general counsel for the upcoming year. Note: president's compensation includes base pay, incentive compensation (both determined by the executive committee and approved by the full board) and pass-through per diems paid by outside organizations.”

“Performance evaluations are conducted annually by the direct manager of the officer(s)/key employee(s) and provided to the ceo for compensation consideration. Compensation is evaluated according to performance and position within a market range. The market range is established from surveys conducted for similar positions within the same industry, company size and non-profit status (when possible comparables exist). The market ranges represent a 50% spread from the minimum to the maximum of the range and are evaluated annually. If the market shows an increase of more than 5%, the increase in the ranges are capped at two times the annual salary budgeted increase. If the market shows less than a 5% increase or a market decrease, the ranges remain the same for the upcoming year. In addition to base compensation, these positions are also eligible for incentive compensation, paid according to the employee's performance and the financial health of the organization.”

“Kansas farm bureau legal foundation does not currently make its governing documets, conflict of interest policy, or financial statements available to the general public, other than by request.”

“America needs an agricultural industry that supports healthy rural communities, protects the environment, and promotes a safe, diverse, and stable food supply. A healthy family farm-based system of agriculture is required to achieve these goals. Targeted, top-notch legal information and advocacy are indispensable in the struggle to defend family-based agriculture and secure social and economic justice for farmers. To provide this service the kansas farm bureau legal foundation (legal foundation) used more than 20 volunteers in 2024. The legal foundation started a new program that helps place attorneys in rural kansas by awarding up to 3 grants to new law graduates that pass the bar and begin their practice of law in a rural kansas community. Twelve grant recipients have been identified since the beginning of this program. The legal foundation is a proud sponsor of efforts to provide continuing legal education to attorneys serving agricultural clients, including the annual aala symposium, and a joint symposium with the kansas bar association. This aala symposium gathers the best and brightest agricultural law attorneys from around the u.s., and provides lectures and open formats for them to learn from one other. The legal foundation provides grants to county farm bureau associations to host legal education seminars. In 2024 four grants were awarded for seminars hosted on estate planning, rails to trails, and electric transmission. Through legal education seminars, the legal foundation reached over 1,000 individuals in 2024.”