North Dakota Farmers Union, guided by the principles of cooperation, legislation and education, was established in 1927 when it received its national charter at the first convention held at the Jamestown Elks Hall on November 4 with approximately 500 members in attendance. About 13,000 farmers had joined by this time—the largest membership among the 31 states in which Farmers Union was active. Charles Clyde Talbott was the organization’s first president.
After World War I, the farm economy saw prices drop but production costs hold steady. As farmers struggled to cover costs they banded together to form cooperatives in order to cut back on the price of production. They worked together to provide the services they needed at a price that was more reasonable. North Dakota Farmers Union has recognized the value in establishing these cooperatives since the organization was first founded.
In 1927, Farmers Union Exchange was established as a wholesale supply cooperative subsidiary of Farmers Union Terminal Association. It would later be incorporated as a separate company and be renamed CENEX. After five years in business, this cooperative would displace the Texas Oil Co. to rank second in volume of gasoline and oil sales.
Cooperatives began with creating markets for staple products but soon branched out to include everything from appliances to canned goods. In 1935, Central Exchange worked with an automotive engineer to develop a new tractor after being convinced that commercial companies were falling behind in research and development. These new Farmers Union Co-op tractors enabled farmers to drive 35 to 40 mph.
On May 11, 1935, President Roosevelt established the Rural Electrification Administration (REA). NDFU was active in urging farmers to form cooperatives to implement the program and bring electrical power to farms across the state. Rural Electrification Cooperatives (REC) were established throughout the state and by the early 1950s power lines connected almost every farm. By 1940, local NDFU co-ops were serving 129,000 patrons and conducting $45 million in business. Over the years, cooperatives have continued their success throughout North Dakota, and today NDFU finds ways to guide, assist, and support locally owned cooperatives.
From its earliest days, NDFU has also been a successful advocacy organization for farmers throughout the state. In November 1933, a delegation of NDFU members traveled to Washington D.C. to lobby for Missouri River diversion to bring water to farms all across the state. “If it is possible for us to solve this problem, we will do it,” responded President Roosevelt.
Another milestone in NDFU legislative history involved corporate farming. In 1932, NDFU won support for an initiated measure it placed on the ballot that prohibited corporations from owning farmland. It passed with a 56 percent of the vote. By 1940, corporations and government agencies owned nearly 20,000 farms, one-fourth the total in North Dakota. The law required them to dispose of the land by 1941. A last-minute challenge by corporate interest drew 5,000 farmers to Bismarck to help defeat the challenge. The law was upheld. NDFU would fight this same fight again during the summer of 1968. After vigorous campaigning throughout the summer, the anti-corporate farming forces won the election 171,321 to 53,935. This principle would be upheld again in 1979.
In 1948, a new idea emerged, bringing a large delegation of grassroots members to speak for themselves in front of congress. To qualify for the trip, members had to sell 75 new memberships. The bus was full. Thus began an era of bus-ins. In May 1965, the bus-ins would change to fly-ins when a group of North Dakota leaders chartered an aircraft to lobby for a better farm bill.
For 54 years NDFU transportation has carried members young and old across the country to attend conventions, camps, co-op tours, and trips to Washington. NDFU has had nine buses since the start of the transportation program with the first being a leased 1947 Flexible with vertical pinstripes on its nose and interior curtains. NDFU members have not only traveled by bus but have also taken to the sky with the organization’s first airplanes being used in 1947. The first two aircrafts were small, an eight-passenger Stinson and a Beechcraft, but in 1968 NDFU bought its own 40-passenger Convair 240 to “fly, not walk, into the 1970s” (In President Ed Smith’s words).
Seven busloads carried more than 300 North Dakota Farmers Union members to Washington D.C. on March 20-21, 2000, to participate in the Rally for Rural America. They would join nearly 4,000 farmers from over 40 states on Capitol Hill, the largest gathering of farmers in Washington D.C.
North Dakota Farmers Union has also made the education of their members a priority since the founding of the organization. They have established programs for both young and old and have used a variety of mediums to get news out to members throughout history. In 1931, NDFU began a weekly, Monday-night radio program on KFYR Radio of Bismarck that reached nearly every farm home in the state. 1933 marked the first year for print media for the organization. Although the first publication of the Union Farmer wasn’t published until 1934, NDFU’s first songbook was published in 1933. The songs emphasized Farmers Union themes and set them to music. With the introduction of television to North Dakota in the mid-1950s, NDFU discovered a new way to reach members. In 1957, they aired their first ten minute, weekly television program, “Focus on the News.”
Education has always been more than just informing though; it is about bringing together a community to learn from one another. In the mid-1930s Famers Union local meetings became weekly occasions to bring the community together. Locals were originally organized by township, but as members have become more spread out they are now organized by county. Many of the local traditions are still present through county picnics, day classes and camps. In the early years, annual events such as the winter conference, the county leaders conference, and ladies camp were used to help members develop leadership skills. Members learned and mastered public speaking, debate, parliamentary procedure, and other skills at these events.
Gladys Talbott Edwards was the founder behind many of the youth programs and became the first director of education in 1937. There were 98 teenagers ages 14 to 21 attending the first youth camp held in 1934 at Camp Rokiwan. Youth participated in classes, speakers, crafts, swimming, singing, camp fires and folk dancing. The camp was such a success that the next year they held three camps, bringing in over 300 campers from across the state. The second year of camp marked the first year that the camp co-op store was established.
In 1935, NDFU’s Lulu Evanson led a successful fight to establish a statewide high school correspondence study program for rural youth that couldn’t attend high school because of the distance from home. It also allowed handicapped students and adults to receive their high school diplomas. By 1949, 66,000 people were able to continue their education and earn diplomas.
The first collegiate campus chapters were established in 1937 on the North Dakota State University, Minot State University and Valley City State University campuses as a way for young farm people to stay connected as they headed off to college.
North Dakota Farmers Union continues to be guided by the principles of cooperation, legislation and education today.
