Change has been a constant for Guebert as IFB president

ELLIS GROVE, Ill. — For the immediate past president of Illinois Farm Bureau, there is no fear that he won’t have enough to do, after retiring from the leadership of the state’s largest farmer membership organization.

“We finished harvest a number of weeks ago. We were trying to do some fall tillage in the bottoms. We were mowing our field ditches and borders. You name it, there’s always something we can find to do,” said Richard Guebert Jr., speaking in an interview before the annual meeting of IFB in Chicago.

In the days and weeks leading up to his final farewell address as president of IFB, a job he’s held for a decade, following a decade as vice president of IFB, which followed years as the president of Randolph County Farm Bureau, Guebert said he hadn’t really had much time to ponder on how it would feel to take the stage at the Palmer House Hilton hotel for the final time.

“Haven’t had time to give it much thought. I’ve been trying to get my farewell speech nailed down and with the issues we’ve got going, with the continuing resolution in D.C., the farm bill discussions and the veto session in the state legislature, plus Farm Bureau district meetings and resolutions, I just really haven’t had time to give it much thought,” he said.

He did reflect on the places he’s been to and the people he’s met along the way, places and people that, as a grain farmer in southwestern Illinois, he might not otherwise would have had the opportunity to see and meet.

“I have been so blessed with opportunities as president and as vice president over the years. If I wouldn’t have been president and vice president, I would never have had those opportunities to sit down, face to face, with those people of influence and tell our story,” he said.

The range of U.S. secretaries of agriculture that Guebert has met and spoken with range from John Block to Dan Glickman to Sonny Perdue and Tom Vilsack.

Vilsack, the current ag secretary, held that same job when Guebert took over the reins as president of IFB in 2013.

The places he’s been stand out for Guebert, too.

“I went with then-Gov. Pat Quinn to Poland, to China and to Japan on trade missions. Those trips were very memorable. Going with former ag secretary John Block to Cuba, that was really great,” he said.

“I really enjoyed those trips and just sitting down with fellow farmers from other countries and having those conversations with them and the government officials about how we needed trade to go forward.”

He has met and talked to two presidents, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, and had one-on-one conversations with former Vice President Mike Pence.

One of the most memorable meetings was at the Illinois State Fair, with former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who was hosted at the fair by former Congresswoman Cheri Bustos, who represented the 17th Congressional District of Illinois.

“That was when the USMCA was being debated. I really want to thank former Congresswoman Bustos. She set up the opportunity for us to meet Speaker Pelosi,” Guebert said of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.

“The time I had to tell the speaker how important the USMCA was, not only to Illinois agriculture, but to American agriculture, was so important. We spent almost a half hour talking about Illinois agriculture and that was pretty memorable for me.”

Guebert’s tenure at the head of IFB was marked by change — something he sees as not just a certainty, but a necessity.

“I think Illinois Farm Bureau is going to have to change. How can we be receptive to farmers, to new farmers and new members? I can’t help but believe for Illinois Farm Bureau to be impactful and relevant for the next 100 years, they are going to have to change,” he said.

“To what, I have no idea. That is for the advisory committee and our members to decide in the months and years ahead.”

Urging lawmakers to get a new farm bill written, debated and passed needs to remain a priority of the organizations, Guebert said.

“I am really disappointed in our legislators in D.C. that they couldn’t get to where they needed to get an appropriations bill passed, to get a budget bill passed and to find a way forward to work in a methodical, bipartisan way to get things done,” he said.

“They could have had a farm bill done, in my estimation, if they had done all the rest that had to get done and not have these partisan fights.”

While the 2018 farm bill was extended, Guebert said he would like to see a new farm bill finished and in place before the presidential election season heats up.

“I hope they can get the budget bill done in a bipartisan way and move to get a farm bill going in the House, get bipartisan support and find a way forward before we get to late spring and summer,” he said. “I hope that they have that done before the election season gets going in earnest.”

This will be the second farm bill that failed to meet its deadline.

“The 2018 farm bill should have been done in 2017. It wasn’t. It was pushed off and finally accomplished with good bipartisan support in 2018 and I hope we can do the same next year,” Guebert said.

One challenge that IFB has stepped up to meet is keeping young members involved in the organization at various levels.

Guebert said the organization has kept the members of the IFB Young Leaders involved after they move out of the Young Leaders organization.

“I think that is changing and shifting. More of our Young Leaders, as they retire from Young Leaders, are running for and being elected to their county Farm Bureau boards and are being elected county Farm Bureau presidents and officers,” he said.

“I think there are opportunities for them and they are being recognized. They are really smart folks and they are the up and coming leaders of tomorrow.

“We have had conversations with the Young Leader Committee over the years of how we can help them be more impactful and on the local level and provide them opportunities going forward.”