West Polk County Farm Bureau

In the late 1800s, as diversified farms began to replace large bonanza farms in Minnesota and across the U.S., Polk County farmers realized they needed help. National groups with local branches, like the Farm Bureau, formed to help farmers organize and improve their representation in laws and education. Farmers in the western part of Polk County—a particularly fertile area due to the Red River Valley’s rich topsoil—came to rely on their farm organizations as they adapted to the rising cost of transporting produce to city markets.

The Polk County Farm Bureau officially organized on December 20, 1917, in order to secure a county agent. Its members knew that such an agent would help them learn the latest farming techniques and teach their children better, more cost-effective farming practices. There were 451 founding members, with annual dues set at two dollars per member. After they helped to create the necessary extension service, county agent R. W. Van Scoik was elected on February 15, 1918, and began work.

In June 1926, the Bureau split into two different groups: one representing East Polk County and another representing West Polk County. Herman Skyberg served as the western branch’s first president.

In the late 1920s, the West Polk County Farm Bureau gathered in Crookston for its first annual county meeting and picnic. The event drew over 1,200 people, including women and children. Aware that their families were crucial to their farms’ success, farmers encouraged their relatives to become involved with the organization’s inner workings. They also created resolutions during their monthly meetings that helped guide legislators to pass new laws. These eased the burden of expenses related to seeds, implements, hired help, and transportation.

During and after the Great Depression, some Polk County farmers lost their farms. As a result, the Farm Bureau gained traction with dissatisfied farmers eager for change, many of whom also aligned themselves with the county’s 4-H clubs. In 1937, they expected 2,500 people attendees at their annual picnic.

In the early 1940s, the West Polk County Farm Bureau profiled prominent farmers in local newspapers. Two of the organization’s sixteen directors were women. In 1948, it backed 90-percent-parity-price support (adjusting commodity prices so that farmers could earn incomes comparable to other workers’). A year later, Arnold Gredvig represented Polk County when he became the Minnesota Farm Bureau’s director.

The Farmers Union was an organization that rose to prominence alongside the Farm Bureau. Unlike the majority-Republican Bureau, this new group was backed by Democratic Farmer–Labor lawmakers. On December 15, 1954, 125 West Polk Farm Bureau delegates met with Democratic legislator Coya Knutson from neighboring Red Lake County. In the 1950s, the Bureau’s membership tripled from its earlier numbers in the 1920s.

In November 1964, the Farm Bureau criticized the Commodity Credit Corporation’s (CCC’s) sale of wheat on the open market, which kept farm-commodity prices low. The Farm Bureau took the position that the CCC should not sell farmers’ wheat at market price and urged it not to sell for less than $2.50 a bushel, plus storage and administrative costs. By the late 1960s, membership had fallen below its 1950s levels. Laws, economics, the world market, and the costs of doing farm business had changed. A delegation from West Polk County took a trip to Washington, D.C., to meet with leaders.

West Polk County Farm Bureau members participated in workshops at Red River Valley Winter Shows (farming education exhibitions) in the 1960s and 1970s. The Bureau’s women remained active, organizing baking contests and hosting rural-urban banquets. Irene Wachter Jobe, the Bureau’s women’s chair, put out a call to action in the organization’s October 1967 newsletter. She encouraged members to draft sound resolutions at their annual meeting that would represent their needs to legislators. Political awareness, she argued, strengthened their commitment to “fighting for a fair shake for the farmer.”

In the mid-1980s, the Farm Bureau and the Farmers Union both sent farm reform recommendations to President Ronald Reagan. Though the organizations disagreed along partisan lines, Farm Bureau and Farmers union members alike knew they needed a unified voice to express their concerns to government leaders.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, membership in Farm Bureaus declined as large, corporate family farms replaced smaller farms.