Several years ago I worked for a US Senator from a western state.
I had responsibility for agricultural issues and met with members
of the Farm Bureau from the state and federal committees.
One meeting with them still stands out clearly in my mind. It was the
meeting that I learned (from the Farm Bureau reps) that the environmental
movement was controlled by satanists, that the whole thing was a plot
by the Devil against God's Country (ie., the USA), and that there was a
book written by a professor at the University of Maine that proved it.
This is no joke. The Farm Bureau lobbyists were deadly serious about it.
I asked them to send me of copy of the book and they agreed to, but I never
saw it.
While this is just one experience with the Farm Bureau, and admittedly, the
most outrageous, the kinds of charges being made about their
anti-environment stands, etc., are completely true, based on my
experience working in agricultural issues in Congress. I also spoke with
many, many constituents who did not support many Farm Bureau positions, but
"joined the Farm Bureau for the insurance." Many farmers that I spoke to
felt that the Farm Bureau was "part of the problem" when it came to
protecting family run farms and rural communities from agribusiness.