The National Farmers Union elected Rob Larew, the organization’s senior vice president of public policy and communications, as president at its annual convention Monday in Savannah, Georgia. Larew will take the helm from outgoing president Roger Johnson, a former agriculture commissioner of North Dakota, who served in the role since 2009.
Larew won with 74 percent of the vote cast by nearly 200 delegates. Prior to his role at NFU, Larew worked in Congress and at the Department of Agriculture for 22 years. Two other candidates vied for the top spot: Mike Eby, a board member of the Pennsylvania Farmers Union, and Donn Teske, president of the Kansas Farmers Union. The other two candidates each received 13 percent of the vote.
The organization also swore in Patty Edelburg as its vice president, who was the incumbent for the role and ran unopposed.
Earlier in the day, convention attendees heard from agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue, who spoke primarily about trade issues. The Trump administration’s ongoing trade war with China spurred has shrunk farm exports to the country by nearly 60 percent.
“Farming’s always been tough,” said Perdue. “It amazes me how some people just keep on keeping on.” He pledged that “the toughest days are behind us,” though acknowledged that many farmers were kept afloat this year by “revenue [that] came from the mailbox, not from across the scales.”
He was referring to the Market Facilitation Program, which the Trump administration created to distribute payments in 2019 and 2020 to farmers affected by the trade war with China. The program is controversial among some farmers, who say they would rather have a more robust marketplace than rely on government payouts. The program has also been criticized by advocates who say that the payments have disproportionately been paid to the largest farmers.
Perdue acknowledged farmers’ criticisms of the program, yet said that “when we can’t have trade, we need aid.” As for whether there will be another round of MFP payments in 2020, Perdue said farmers shouldn’t expect an extension but pledged to “do whatever it takes to keep y’all afloat.” The secretary said USDA is attempting to fill the gap resulting from the Chinese trade war by expanding U.S. trade relations with smaller countries, like the United Kingdom as it prepares to exit from the European Union.
Reception of Perdue’s remarks were mixed. He received applause for his comment that receiving money through the MFP is “not as fulfilling as earning it.” And the crowd also applauded Perdue for his discussion of the need for greater environmental sustainability practices among farmers.
Yet not all farmers joined in a standing ovation as Perdue departed from the stage, and there were mixed reviews of his comments among attendees.
“I’m glad he came. It’s important that we hear from the Secretary,” said Nick Levendofsky, director of external affairs for the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, based in Denver, Colorado. “But words are one thing and action is another. We need him to act … at the end of the day farmers want trade, not aid.”
This year marked the 118th NFU convention.