Philip Nelson of Seneca has been elected as the 17th president of the Illinois Farm Bureau, securing 55.6% of the vote in a closely watched election. Nelson, who farms alongside his wife, Carmen, and their children, brings decades of leadership experience, having served as LaSalle County Farm Bureau president, IFB vice president, and as the organization’s 14th president from 2003 to 2013. Delegates highlighted Nelson’s commitment to agriculture and his deep roots in the farming community. Members say they look forward to the direction and stability Nelson is expected to bring to Illinois agriculture.
From FarmWeekNow.com:
IFB delegates debate bylaw proposals
Delegates at Illinois Farm Bureau’s Annual Meeting considered seven proposals to amend IFB’s bylaws and standing policy resolutions. The results are as follows:
- FAILED, 204 against, 83 in favor: Champaign County proposed adding a section in the bylaws that would allow delegates to remove the IFB president and vice president by a two-thirds majority vote at any annual, regular, or special meeting of the members. If approved, the amendment would take effect Jan. 1.
- APPROVED, 272 in favor, 8 opposed: The boards of directors of the Douglas County Farm Bureau, Moultrie County Farm Bureau and Illinois Farm Bureau proposed moving Douglas County from District 12 to District 11 as a result of the merger between the Douglas and Moultrie County Farm Bureaus.
- FAILED: Christian, Lee and Winnebago-Boone Farm Bureaus together proposed renaming “associate” members to “supporting” members in name only to better reflect their role.
- APPROVED: The joint membership option for spouses remains unchanged. But under this proposal if both spouses qualify and elect to be individual voting members, they would each pay the regular dues rate instead of one discounted rate for both memberships.
- APPROVED: This proposal, also by Christian, Lee and Winnebago-Boone, redefines voting members, streamlining membership into voting and non-voting. This would combine the PMs and the MMs (farmer members) and only have one voting member class. Counties would still have the opportunity to determine eligibility requirements for a voting member. The proposal also removes the option for full-time on-farm employees and those in agriculture-related occupations to elect either a voting membership or a non-voting associate membership. A handful of lines referencing PMs also are omitted in the proposal to make clear PMs and MMs are at the same level.
- APPROVED: Clinton County proposed adding a provision to the Privilege of the Floor section of the bylaws, which would require a copy of the rules governing the delegate meeting to be provided to each county Farm Bureau at least 30 days prior to the meeting.
- APPROVED: Vermilion County Farm Bureau proposed amending two standing policy resolutions pertaining to the definition of “membership in good standing” and the cancellation of membership, which would go into effect May 1, 2026. Currently, membership is deemed free from dues delinquency if the annual dues are paid within the first three months of the membership year. The proposal would now require payment to be made within the first month of the membership year. Vermilion County’s proposal also recommends terminating membership after the second month of dues delinquency, rather than after the fourth month.
