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Contested races set for Illinois Farm Bureau president and vice president

Members of the Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) will see a contested race for the organization’s top two spots at their annual meeting in December.

Current IFB President and Ogle County farmer Brian Duncan faces opposition from LaSalle County farmer Phillip Nelson. 

Duncan tells Brownfield, “I hope the organization wants to continue to move forward and modernize.  I don’t think we want to drive a car looking in the rearview mirror. But ultimately, the delegates will have the final decision, and I think we’ve got a lot to be proud of.”

Nelson, who served as IFB president from 2003 to 2013, says he was asked to run again by several county presidents, especially after IFB was expelled from the American Farm Bureau Federation.

“I’m not looking at 10 years, I’m looking to come in and fix up the things that need to be fixed.”  He says, “We’ve got to get back in the fold. We’ve lost our credibility in Washington and Springfield, and we need to have a better dialogue with our commodity groups.”

Vice President and Bureau County farmer Evan Hultine faces opposition from Clinton County farmer Mark Litteken.  IFB members will cast their votes during the delegate session on December 8^th in Chicago.

AUDIO: Brian Duncan

In a related matter, the IFB board voted this week in a special meeting to change long-standing policy in their FarmWeek publication, ending the publishing of candidate statements ahead of the election.

Duncan tells Brownfield, “It was a board action that myself and Vice President Hultine recused ourselves from, and I’ve got to say I am disappointed that my candidate statement won’t appear in Farm Week. But I respect the board’s decision to protect its cornerstone publication.”

A statement issued by the IFB Board says, “IFB members have counted on FarmWeek for more than 50 years to be a credible, accurate, and trusted source of news and information. IFB’s cornerstone publication can’t be used as a platform to amplify inaccurate and misleading statements.” 

FarmWeek plans only to publish candidate bios.  Nelson says the move came after statements were solicited from the candidates.

“This is a first.”  He says, “A biographical sketch of a person doesn’t say much except what they’ve done. It doesn’t say what they intend to do or have a vision of the organization, which I think is critical. When you have this letter of candidacy to say what you’re going to do.”

Both candidates say they plan to distribute their statements in other ways. 

AUDIO: Phillip Nelson