IOWA FALLS, Iowa — There were some constants when John Gilbert was growing up — milking Brown Swiss, lots of brothers, Minneapolis Moline tractors, the Congregational Church and the Farmers Union.
"They were things that were always there," Gilbert said.
His father, William Gilbert, who died in 2012 at 96, strongly believed in family farming.
"He believed the family farmer was in the best position to make the best decisions not only for farming but care of the land and to help drive economy," Gilbert said. "I guess I inherited his involvement in Farmers Union."
Gilbert, who served on the Iowa farmers Union board for several years before stepping down a year ago, shared his family's three generations of involvement in the organization, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Like his father, Gilbert has always been a member, and his children are members as well.
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William, who started farming after serving in World War II, joined Farmers Union when a neighbor asked him to become a member. Gilbert remembers the blue and white Farmers Union sign hanging on the fence near the road when he was growing up. He still has the sign.
"Dad's concerns were that everybody should be treated fairly and everyone needed to be civil," Gilbert said. "What attracted him to Farmers Union is what attracts me. It's about the farmers. It's not about producing anything or business opportunities or anybody's special interests. It's about making sure the people of rural America, and particularly the farmers, get a fair shake and have at their access rules and policies that are fair and equitable and benefit the most farmers for the longest run."
Gilbert said that's why conservation is such a big issue with Farmers Union.
"You're much more likely to get good conservation when you have some public involvement," Gilbert said. "Individuals are just not capable of doing everything that needs to be done. If you were to leave it to the free market to look after resources, they won't get looked after. The free market tends to be about short-term exploitation rather than long-term benefits."
The Farmers Union was involved in some of the early cooperatives primarily because the farmers faced unevenness in numbers and power.
"There were a few buyers and a lot of farmers producing the product," Gilbert said. "It's an imbalance of trade with lots of potential for people to be treated unfairly. That's why cooperation is one of the three legs of what Farmers Union stands for. The other two are education and advocacy, giving farmers an effective voice. Those policies have stood the test of time."
The National Farmers Union formed in 1902 and the Iowa Farmers Union in 1915. At that time railroads and packers were trying to exploit farmers.
"It's a different group, but there's always someone who is trying to take advantage of the farmer," Gilbert said. "That's why the Farmers Union will probably always be necessary."
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Gilbert said it's tempting to look back at 100 years of accomplishments, but sometimes it's what the organization prevented from happening that may be most important.
"A lot of times no one really knows what you've helped keep from happening," Gilbert said. "When you look at society and farmers in general and rural America, we very much have a situation where you don't have people treating each other with respect or dignity. Are we treating our land, animals and other people with respect? When you don't do these things, I think it carries through in the products."
Gilbert farms with his wife, Beverly, son John and his wife, Sarah, and brother Greg, and his wife, Barb, on 770 acres along the Southfork of the Iowa River between Iowa Falls and Hubbard. John and Beverly's daughter, Kate, teaches food science at Iowa State University, and their son James, and his wife, Carly, live in Golden, Colo., where James is finishing work on a doctoral degree at the Colorado School of Mines. John and Sarah have a daughter, Isabel.
The Gilberts milk 50 to 60 Brown Swiss cows and sell milk to Swiss Valley Farms. They farrow pigs on pasture in spring and fall and finish them in a hoop building, selling 250 to 300 pigs per year. Some are sold to the locker and most to Niman Ranch. They raise corn, soybeans, alfalfa, annual forages and oats using a system that is a little bit ridge-till, strip-till and no-till. They employ a variety of conservation practices and have restored a shallow water wetland.
Gilbert is active with the Southfork Watershed Alliance, and the family is a member of Practical Farmers of Iowa.
Gilbert is looking forward to the IFU annual conference Nov. 20 to 21, which will celebrate the 100th birthday.
"I'm glad they got Jim Hightower to come," Gilbert said. "Whether you agree or disagree with him, it's inspiring to hear him speak. Not a lot of people have the courage to speak out as forcefully as he does."
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