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The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), commonly referred to as the Farm Bureau, is a nonprofit organization and describes itself as the largest general farm organization in the United States. The stated mission of AFBF is "working through our grassroots organizations to enhance and strengthen the lives of rural Americans and to build strong, prosperous agricultural communities". AFBF is headquartered in Washington, D.C. There are 50 state affiliates and one in Puerto Rico. ==History== The Farm Bureau movement officially started in 1911 when John Barron, a farmer who graduated from Cornell University, worked as an extension agent in Broome County, New York. He served as a "Farm Bureau" representative for farmers with the Binghamton, New York Chamber of Commerce. The effort was financed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Lackawanna Railroad. The Broome County Farm Bureau was soon separated from the Chamber of Commerce. Other farm bureaus on a county level formed across the country. In 1914, with the passage of the Smith–Lever Act of 1914, the U.S. Congress agreed to share with the states the cost of programs for providing what had come to be called "county agents", who furnished farmers information on improved methods of animal husbandry developed by the agricultural colleges and agricultural experiment stations, which has evolved into the modern day Cooperative Extension Service, shaped in part by political opposition to agricultural subsidies. Farmers meeting in Saline County, Missouri, were the first to form a statewide Farm Bureau in 1915. The initial Bureaus had a social and educational function furthering the extension service efforts, and they have additionally developed a lobbying presence as well. The American Farm Bureau was formally founded in 1919 in Chicago, Illinois. Its initial organization papers said: The purpose of Farm Bureau is to make the business of farming more profitable, and the community a better place to live. Farm Bureau should provide an organization in which members may secure the benefits of unified efforts in a way which could never be accomplished through individual effort. The American Farm Bureau Federation relocated its headquarters from Park Ridge, Illinois, to Washington, D.C., in 2003. Each November since 1986, AFBF has reported the results of an informal survey on the average retail cost of a classic Thanksgiving dinner, including a 16-pound turkey and all the trimmings. In 2012, the cost was $49.48.〔(of Classic Thanksgiving Dinner Up Slightly This Year ), American Farm Bureau Federation, November 10, 2011.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「American Farm Bureau Federation」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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