Founded in 1919,[2] the AFBF represents the 2 million farms in the United States, and is among the agriculture industry's largest lobby groups.

[3][4] Some observers contend that its federal lobbying efforts, which began in the 1930s, helped drive the subsequent three-decade shift to larger farms.

[5] In 2022, the AFBF spent $2,120,000 on lobbying,[6] including for policies benefitting the for-profit activities of state farm bureaus, such as federal subsidies for the crop insurance sold by affiliate companies.

[12] The Farm Bureau movement started in 1911 when John Barron, a farmer who graduated from Cornell University, worked as an extension agent in Broome County, New York.

[13] In 1914, with the passage of the Smith–Lever Act of 1914, Congress agreed to share with the states the cost of programs for providing "county agents", who supplied information to farmers on improved methods of animal husbandry and crop production developed by agricultural colleges and experiment stations, which has evolved into the modern-day Cooperative Extension Service.

More precisely, the local and state farm bureaus formed a network of such unions or associations with a national parent organization.

'The Farm Bureau's cherished belief that its policy was made at the grass roots and adopted by democratic process turned out to be partly illusion,' concluded Christiana McFayden Cambell in her study of the organization's New Deal period.

"In recent years, its insurance affiliates have bought stock in companies like Cargill, ConAgra, Dow Chemical, DuPont, Tyson and Archer Daniels Midland, all major food industry players.

[34] In 2003, Farm Bureau economists joined the Heartland and Hudson Institutes in publishing a paper that "called state or federal regulation of greenhouse gases 'unnecessary, enormously expensive, and particularly injurious to the agricultural community.

[35] The climate change session at the Farm Bureau's national meeting that year was entitled "Global Warming: A Red Hot Lie?"

It featured Christopher C. Horner,[36] a climate change denier and lawyer for the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute, a largely industry-backed group that strongly opposes limits on greenhouse gases.

[37] At the meeting, delegates unanimously approved a resolution that "strongly supports any legislative action that would suspend EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act".

[40][41] The coalition's website says its 80-plus member organizations represent "farmers, ranchers, forest owners, agribusinesses, manufacturers, the food and innovation sector, state governments, sportsmen, and environmental advocates", who cooperate to "develop and promote shared climate policy priorities across the entire agriculture, food and forestry value chains.

[42] While The New Republic reported in 2022 that the organization "wants guarantees that farmers will get paid for soil sequestration without anything else in agricultural business-as-usual changing",[43] FACA has called for “a comprehensive effort involving financial and technical assistance, research investments, proactive response to innovation, public-private partnerships, and a commitment to equitable opportunities for all producers” to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

[45] In February 2023, FACA released policy recommendations for the 2023 farm bill, calling for voluntary bipartisan climate solutions.

[46] The recommendations included incentives for farmers to plant cover crops and use precision agriculture equipment that more efficiently uses fertilizers and pesticides; a USDA grant program to improve soil health; a study to look for barriers to climate-smart practices in the crop insurance program; and changes to income limits so that all farmers can participate in “landscape level projects” to advance conservation and climate goals.

[47][48] The AFBF was heavily involved in lobbying for the 2012 farm bill,[8] which included $9 billion in federal subsidies for crop insurance.

[57][58] Through expansion and mergers, FBL has grown to operate in 14 states, generally selling to consumers under the name Farm Bureau Financial Services.

[60] Its parent, the Iowa Farm Bureau, reported 2020 revenue of about $100 million and an investment portfolio worth more than $1 billion, while executive compensation was in the high six figures.

"Its Iowa chapter alone owns and operates a $3.5 billion insurance and financial services company that is traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

That company, FBL Financial Group, gave thousands of stock options to its directors, including the presidents of 14 state Farm Bureaus.

"[66] Ed Wiederstein, president of the Iowa Farm Bureau and chairman of FBL Financial, cashed in a "couple of hundred thousand bucks from stock options" in 1998.

But, by not taking salaries and having their income tied to FBL’s performance, the [Iowa] Farm Bureau’s executives open themselves up to questions," wrote Investigate Midwest, an independent, nonprofit newsroom.