A longtime U.S. farm leader, Roger Johnson said on Tuesday that he will not seek re-election as president of the National Farmers Union when the group holds its annual convention on March 1-3 in Savannah, Georgia. Johnson has led the NFU, the second-largest U.S. farm group, since 2009.
Johnson, a third-generation farmer, was North Dakota’s elected state agriculture director from 1996 until he became NFU president. He was president of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture in 2007-08. “Time to play with grandkids,” said Johnson in confirming his decision to step down, which first appeared in The Hagstrom Report.
As NFU president, Johnson supported a robust Renewable Fuel Standard, country-of-origin labels on meat and a strong farm safety net. The NFU says the stopgap payments to farmers should be replaced by a more equitable long-range response to the China-U.S. trade war. “Even if and when these trade disputes are resolved, farmers will still be coping with the fallout for years to come. We urge the administration to work with Congress to develop policies that will stabilize agricultural markets and guarantee fair farm prices,” Johnson said in November.