Drew Zimmerman
BLOOMINGTON -- Litigation challenging the American Farm Bureau Federation's decision to terminate the Illinois Farm Bureau's membership in the organization was filed in McLean County Circuit Court on Wednesday.
On Nov. 7, the AFBF's Board of Directors voted to eliminate IFB's membership effective Dec. 20 after Country Financial, an IFB affiliate, eliminated a requirement that its non-farm-related policyholders have an active IFB membership.
Country Financial's decision, which would go into effect Jan. 1, has the potential to reduce IFB's membership from about 400,000 to around 78,000.
In a statement issued Wednesday, AFBF Executive Vice President Joby Young said the decision to end the Illinois organization's membership follows weeks of intensive efforts to meet with leadership, which concluded with formal mediation that left the situation unresolved.
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"At the heart of the matter for our board is the fact that farmers did not control an important membership decision that will harm farmers and Farm Bureau," Young wrote. "This is contrary to Farm Bureau's core commitment to organizational control by farmers for the benefit of farmers."
Illinois Farm Bureau President Brian Duncan said in a memo issued Wednesday the bureau believes AFBF is choosing to put Illinois' farms, families and communities at risk at a time when they need support through federal policy.
"AFBF touts its representation of American farmers and ranchers yet it sources much of its stature and perceived power from people who are not farmers but insurance customers," Duncan wrote. "When membership for these individuals in Illinois becomes voluntary, AFBF's response is to abandon the very people it claims to represent: farmers."
AFBF's decision also would prevent IFB from ever operating under the name "Illinois Farm Bureau" after Dec. 20.
The suit argues prohibiting IFB from operating under the name it has used for the last century would be extremely detrimental to the organization's goodwill and reputation.
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Furthermore, expelling IFB from the national organization could violate an existing settlement agreement between the two parties.
According to the lawsuit, AFBF and IFB were in dispute after the nationwide organization sought to register the "Farm Bureau" designation with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. A settlement was eventually reached in 1990, which provides that AFBF would not seek to limit or terminate IFB's membership rights by reason of business activities of bureau affiliates.
The suit seeks damages sustained from AFBF's alleged breach of the settlement agreement and from false and defamatory statements that have harmed IFB's reputation. The suit also seeks a temporary injunction for IFB to operate as a "Farm Bureau" pending resolution of the suit.
Non-agricultural policyholders with Country Financial are currently signed up to an associate membership with the IFB for $20 a year. This gives policyholders exclusive access to more than 300,000 discounts on a wide variety of services, according to Country Financial's website.
According to the suit, the decision not to require IFB membership for non-agriculture policyholders was reached based on a number of factors, including the threat of nonrenewal for clients who fail to pay IFB membership dues even as an oversight, the rising costs of insurance and decades of feedback from non-farming clients expressing dissatisfaction with the requirement.
Jennifer McDade, manager of public relations and corporate social responsibility for Country Financial, said policyholders who are farmers sign up as IFB members under a different category than non-agriculture clients.
Members pay these $20 annual dues to IFB and their local county farm bureaus. IFB then pays $5 of each members' dues to AFBF.
Should the IFB remain expelled from the AFBF, McDade said she is not sure where the AFBF's portion of the IFB's annual membership dues would be allocated and there have been no discussions about it at this time.
Although Country Financial's policy change could affect hundreds of thousands of IFB members, McDade said she doesn't expect all of IFB's non-farming clients to lose their membership status.
"Country and the Illinois Farm Bureau will continue to have a strong partnership and a very good relationship, and we fully expect that some of our non-farm clients will choose to be associate members of the IFB organization," McDade said.
Contact Drew Zimmerman at 309-820-3276. Follow Drew on Twitter: @DZimmermanLee
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