History of NFO charts farm protest movement

 Don Muhm, retired farm reporter for the Des Moines Register, has written a book that chronicles the history of the National Farmers Organization from its inception in the mid-1950s through the close of the 20th century. The book, The NFO: A Farm Belt Rebel, The History of the National Farmers Organization, " is published by Lone Oak Press, Red Wing, Minn.

Muhm's book covers events surrounding the organization throughout his career covering the farm beat in Iowa and nearby Midwestern states. This includes the NFO's origins as a farm protest movement, and later maturation into a combination farm organization/cooperative led by Missouri farmer Oren Lee Staley. It advocated massive public demonstrations to drive the plight of farmers home to the public. Muhm's pictures of hog shootings and milk dumping are included. Others show mass meetings and organizational leaders who have served the organization. Later cooperative marketing initiatives in the post-Staley era are also discussed, along with financial challenges the organization has constantly endured.

USDA Rural Development supported writing of this manuscript through a cooperative agreement with the Department of Economics at Iowa State University. "Students of group action in agriculture will welcome this addition to their library. It provides insights into a period in American agriculture marked by swift structural change in the makeup of farm operations and the marketing institutions serving them," says Randall Torgerson, deputy administrator of USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Service. Copies are available through Lone Oak Press, 1412 Bush Street, Red Wing, MN 55066. A limited number of copies are also available from the USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Service at $25 hardcover and $17 softcover. Checks, payable to "U.S. Department of Agriculture," and accompanied by your name and address, should be sent to: USDA Rural Development, Attn.: Dan Campbell, Stop 0705, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, D.C., 20250-0705.




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