Nebraska Ag Connection - Nebraska Farmers Union Convention Going Virtual Dec. 4

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Nebraska Farmers Union Convention Going Virtual Dec. 4
Nebraska Ag Connection - 11/20/2020

"107 Years of Service" is the theme for the 107th annual Nebraska Farmers Union (NeFU) state convention which is set to go virtual Dec. 4.

John Hansen, NeFU president said, "For the past 107 years, the focus of our general farm organization has been to serve the needs of family farmers, ranchers, and rural communities. For the first time ever, in order to conduct the necessary elections and business of the organization, and keep our members safe, we will be doing our convention virtually via ZOOM. Instead of holding our convention in Kearney as scheduled, our convention will be held in farm homes across the state."

NeFU delegates and members will elect Board of Directors from Districts 1 and 5. Incumbents Al Davis is running for re-election for District 1, and Camdyn Kavan is running for District 5 to replace retiring Director Ben Gotschall, who announced he is moving to Maine to serve as the dairy manager at Wolfe's Neck Center for Agriculture and the Environment in Freeport. The final district caucuses to field potential additional candidates and all elections will be held Friday morning between 11 a.m. and noon.

In addition to electing officers, three delegates and alternates to the National Farmers Union (NFU) Convention will be elected. The 2019-20 NeFU policy will be extended for one year. Urgent time sensitive policy issues can be sent to the NeFU Board of Directors for consideration.

Hansen said he hopes NeFU members will take advantage of this new virtual opportunity to attend their state convention.

"Since it is virtual, there will be no transportation time or costs, lodging, meal, or registration costs," he said.

Registration is at the NeFU website: www.nebraskafarmersunion.org. The latest information will be on the website.

"We are still doing the organization business including elections, but we have condensed the usual two full day schedule down to one short day. In addition to hearing from NFU President Rob Larew Friday after lunch, the convention will feature the always popular State Senator panel with Senators Brandt, DeBoer, Quick, and Walz. We start late and end early to allow time to do morning and afternoon chores," Hansen said.

NeFU Vice President Vern Jantzen of Plymouth noted, "The safety of our members was our primary concern which is why we moved to a virtual event. Thanks to the pandemic, people everywhere including rural Nebraska have learned how to use ZOOM or some sort of platform to conduct business. As people get more comfortable with this technology, it makes it easier for rural Nebraskans to participate when long distances are not a factor. This pandemic has shown the light on the need to improve the accessibility and capacity of high speed internet broadband. This could be a positive that comes out of this pandemic."

Hansen concluded, "The good news is that since our virtual convention will be practicing extreme social distancing, we won't need to wear our masks to be safe."

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