An opinion piece appeared last week in more than one Denver newspaper that attacked Farmers Union for “selling out” agriculture by supporting the amended Clean Energy bill. The piece presents the author’s views and statistics as facts. They are just opinions, not facts, and there are some other facts that should be mentioned as we [...]

Rocky Mountain Farmers Union President Kent Peppler, a Mead, Colo., farmer, issued a statement today on the temporary restraining order that prevents the USDA from approving Conservation Reserve Program contract amendments under the Critical Feed Use plan. The order, issued by a Washington State Federal District Court judge at the request of the National [...]

I am glad to announce that membership in Rocky Mountain Farmers Union has had a significant increase in the past few months. Many of you new members are reading the Union Farmer for the first time and probably would like to know our philosophy, or how we go about taking care of our members’ business [...]

Health insurance. Those two words didn’t mean much to me in the past, but suddenly they have become two of the most important words in my vocabulary.
When I worked at Northeastern Junior College, I had the benefit of being covered by a comprehensive health care plan along with other State of Colorado employees. For the [...]

Last year, with the election of a new President and all of the related activities at convention, I had little chance to visit with you, our members, about my first year as Vice President.
If I had offered some words to describe my first year, they might have included “learning,” “excited,” and “sometimes overwhelmed.” I am [...]

I think fall is my favorite time of year. This fall is special because we are harvesting an extra good crop.
It has been quite a long time since we have seen such a harvest in our area, so this year’s crop makes us even more thankful than we normally would be. While we are enjoying [...]

By RMFU President Kent Peppler
I think fall is my favorite time of year. This fall is special because we are harvesting an extra good crop.
It has been quite a long time since we have seen such a harvest in our area, so this year’s crop makes us even more thankful than we normally would be. [...]

By RMFU Vice President Todd Hagenbuch
Last year, with the election of a new President and all of the related activities at convention, I had little chance to visit with you, our members, about my first year as Vice President.
If I had offered some words to describe my first year, they might have included “learning,” “excited,” [...]

Yea, it’s fun to win, and Rocky Mountain Farmers Union has been winning a lot lately. Being the competitive person that I am, winning is making my job as president a whole lot of fun. Let’s take a look at the most recent wins.
Disaster aid will be here in January and it’s about time! Congress [...]

Like most self-employed business owners, people involved in production agriculture face a number of threats to their business’s survival.
What if I get ill and cannot continue to work? What if a natural disaster ruins my land so that I cannot continue production? How do I pass along my farm or ranch to the next generation [...]

By Todd Hagenbuch
Like most self-employed business owners, people involved in production agriculture face a number of threats to their business’s survival.
What if I get ill and cannot continue to work? What if a natural disaster ruins my land so that I cannot continue production? How do I pass along my farm or ranch to the [...]

By Kent Peppler
“Winning is not one of the things, it’s the only thing.”
— Vince Lombardi
“Just win baby.”
— Al Davis
“Second place is for losers.”
— Jeff Schuman
“Someone might best me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it.”
— Steve Prefontaine
Yea, it’s fun to win, and Rocky Mountain Farmers Union has been winning a lot [...]

The Agriculture Committees of the United States House of Representatives and Senate have begun drafting, debating and developing farm policies for the next five years.
We all have a huge stake in the process.
The legislation will have a tremendous impact on the future of family farm and ranch agriculture and the production of local fresh food.
Rocky [...]

By Todd Hagenbuch, Vice President
We citizens of the United States have the safest, most abundant food supply in the world. We also spend less of our income on food than anyone else in the world.
As discussion of the 2007 Farm Bill moves forward, I hear grumblings about ‘farm subsidies.’
Subsidies are “Financial assistance given by one [...]

By Kent Peppler
The Agriculture Committees of the United States House of Representatives and Senate have begun drafting, debating and developing farm policies for the next five years.
We all have a huge stake in the process.
The legislation will have a tremendous impact on the future of family farm and ranch agriculture and the production of local [...]

By Todd Hagenbuch, RMFU Vice President
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service held a hearing Jan. 17, in Denver to ask the question, “What does the term ‘natural’ mean when applied to beef, lamb, pork or chicken?” One of the three meetings held in the country to pose the question, producers [...]

By Kent Peppler
We have been dealing with a lot of different issues since I became president. Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (RMFU) is a general farm organization that represents a huge variety of family farm interests. The office is a constant buzz of activity right now, and there are days when the threat of ‘overload’ looms [...]

By Kent Peppler
Family farmers and ranchers have much for which they can be optimistic as they look forward to the new year. Representing 26,000 members in Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union believes the new congressional leadership will make strengthening family farms, ranches and rural communities a top priority.
Congress and the administration [...]

By Kent Peppler
Greetings to my fellow Farmers Union members. My name is Kent Peppler and I am very proud to be the new president of Rocky Mountain Farmers Union. I am a fourth generation farmer from Mead, Colorado. Our farm currently consists of corn, wheat, alfalfa hay, and sunflowers. In addition, my family in has [...]

By John Stencel
As I address Rocky Mountain Farmers Union members through this column for the last time, my heart is filled with pride, joy, and a twinge of sadness. After 30 years of service to this organization, I will be retiring following RMFU’s annual convention Nov. 17-18.
Following a stint at CSU, I came to work [...]