American Farm Bureau Federation

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), more informally called the American Farm Bureau (AFB) or simply the Farm Bureau, is a United States–based 501(c)(5) tax-exempt agricultural organization and lobbying group. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Farm Bureau has affiliates in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Each affiliate is a (state or county) Farm Bureau, and the parent organization is also often called simply the Farm Bureau. Founded in 1919, the AFBF represents the 2 million farms in the United States, and is among the agriculture industry's largest lobby groups. Some observers contend that its federal lobbying efforts, which began in the 1930s, helped drive the subsequent three-decade shift to larger farms. In 2022, the AFBF spent $2,120,000 on lobbying, including for policies benefitting the for-profit activities of state farm bureaus, such as federal subsidies for the crop insurance sold by affiliate companies. Until 2019, it denied that climate change was real. AFBF itself does not sell insurance, but all but a handful of its non-profit state affiliates have affiliated for-profit insurance companies. Most of AFBF's revenue comes from dues paid by its nearly 5.9 million members, most of whom are not farmers but insurance customers who pay the dues as a condition of their policies. Every year, the organization holds an annual convention and adopts new policies to guide its work. The convention is attended by farmer and rancher delegates from across the United States.