When I meet people who don’t know me, I’m often asked what I do for a living. Most of the time, I tell them I’m in the relationship business. Usually people give me a funny look, and then I have to explain in real terms what I actually do.
Looking back on my almost 18-year-career with Farm Bureau, one fundamental point that stands out to me about our organization and its success is how it strives on relationships. Relationships are the fundamental piece to our stealth and effectiveness in the agriculture community. This explains why Farm Bureau invests so much time in building external relationships with other commodity groups, industry partners, and elected officials.
Through our relationships, we bring people from various walks of life together and work toward one common goal of improving the livelihood of farmers and ranchers in Mississippi. From my experience, I’d say we do a pretty good job of building and managing relationships, especially in the Public Policy Department.
Our Public Policy Coordinator, Taylor McNair, works at the state capitol in Jackson every day when the Mississippi Legislature is in session. Farm Bureau is one of the few statewide organizations in Mississippi whose staff makes this effort. We do this because we know how important our presence is in building relationships with lawmakers. Taylor has become a trusted resource to those making legislative decisions, allowing her to better serve our members.
Our Environmental Coordinator, Andy Whittington. Andy works with the Environmental Protection Agency and Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality on a daily basis. He has invested time into developing relationships with staff members of both agencies, becoming a leader among his state Farm Bureau counterparts.
On the federal level, I spend three to eight days a month in Washington, D.C., advocating for the specific needs of our members when Congress is in session. I spend time with members of Congress, their staff, American Farm Bureau Federation staff, staff at federal agencies, and staff at other commodity associations.
As you can see, your policy team – Taylor, Andy and I – are truly in the relationship business. The relationships all three of us work to build every day is where the rubber truly meets the road, as they reinforce Farm Bureau as a reputable, trusted source of information that has been vetted by farmers and ranchers from all areas of Mississippi agriculture.
I like to tell our leadership team that we are building the foundation of this relationship business, block-by-block. I’m proud to help build those blocks on behalf of our members.
Justin Ferguson is the Federal Affairs Coordinator at the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation.