NFO candidates are veterans in the organization
By Carol Stender
cstender@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 02/02/2012 9:12 AM
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TAYLOR, Wis. —Minnesota NFO national director Mark Rohr is running against National NFO President Paul Olson for the organization's top spot.
The election will be Feb. 2 at the National NFO convention in West Des Moines.
Olson is seeking his fourth term and has served as national NFO vice president and director as well as a county president.
Rohr has been a county chairman, state board member, national director and has served n the national executive board.
Paul Olson
Olson and his wife, Judy, own 500 acres and rent another 400 acres near Taylor, Wis. About 600 acres is crops with the remainder is pasture, he said.
The Olsons have an 80-cow milking herd and raise their own replacements. They have been certified organic for nine years.
Olson is the third generation to operate the farm. He purchased the cattle and machinery in 1969 before he graduated from high school. At that same time, he joined the NFO.
His parents and other family members also were NFO members.
"I felt it was the right way to market," Olson said about joining the organization. "Everyone was talking about production, production, production, but they weren't interested in the market. Through collective bargaining, we have a greater handle on the marketing end."
The NFO's dairy, livestock and grain programs are strong and are garnering interest, he said.
"We get calls from other areas where we (as an organization) have been in before," he said. "They want to re-establish programs in their areas. They are feeling a lack of competitiveness in the marketplace due to consolidation. We are seeing more involvement coming in areas we haven't been in for the past 30 years, like the deep south. There are other parts of the country calling us as well and some areas that continue to grow."
The NFO has tried to venture out into other areas, but it is tough, Olson said. He feels it's important for the organization to maintain and grow in the livestock and grain marketing sectors.
"It has become so consolidated in the marketplace today," he said. "There is strength in numbers and farmers have to work together."
Mark Rohr
Rohr and his wife, Carol, farm 200 acres and milk 50 cows near Bluffton, Minn.
He is a second-generation NFO member, Rohr said.
His parents, Norbert and Vivian, joined the organization in 1963 after they experienced low livestock prices.
The two built a new house that year and had planned to pay for it when they sold a portion of their hog herd. But that summer, the hog market crashed.
"The house got built," he said. "But it didn't get finished. They saw that something was wrong with the business aspect of farming. They went to a couple of NFO meetings, talked about it amongst themselves, and went to an NFO member's house telling him they wanted to sign up as members. That's rare. People are usually visited by someone asking them to join the organization, but they did it the opposite way. They saw the benefits of collective bargaining and wanted to join."
When Rohr started farming on his own dairy operation, he also joined.
"My experience in agriculture and the NFO has convinced me that the farmer needs to have someone stand up and go to bat for him," he said. "There are many people who say they will do it, but in reality, they don't."
He is a strong advocate for the organization, Rohr said.
Olson has done a good job, Rohr said, but he feels new ways of doing things and a new energy level are important for the organization to continue its strong marketing programs and for it to grow.
Rohr believes the organization should be run like a business.
"I am not saying that NFO is not doing that now, but I do believe you can't expect farmers to join an organization that promotes a business-like way of marketing when that organization doesn't apply the same standards to itself," he said. "We need to run it in as efficient manner as possible."
The organization needs to be profitable and strong, he added. It doesn't need to make huge profit, but the NFO does need to be in the black.
He said NFO can grow by talking to farmers person-to-person, but to also use social media like Facebook, and the Internet.