Highlights of delegate actions taken at the 143rd Annual Convention of the National Grange are as follows:

Agriculture and Rural Development – National Grange delegates expressed support for immediate efforts that assist struggling dairy farmers by revising the national milk pricing system. Grange delegates endorsed adoption of legislation that will revamp the Federal Dairy Product Price Support and Milk Income Loss Contract programs, as well as create a new dairy producer income insurance program. In response to economic hardships and the risks of hunger arising across the nation, the National Grange will urge the USDA to increase its purchases of surplus agriculture products for donation to various food assistance programs.

Conservation and Energy Issues – In response to current legislative efforts to limit “Greenhouse Gasses,” the National Grange delegates voted to vigorously oppose any “Cap and Trade” bill or related legislation concerning climate change s that would restrict greenhouse gas emissions. As an alternative to “Cap and Trade” legislation, the delegates voted to call on state and national legislators to take any steps necessary to maintain reasonable petroleum prices.

In response to lengthy delays by the U.S. Forest Service in formulating Recovery Plans for portions of National Forests, which are damaged by fire, the delegates also called for the establishment of a maximum two-year deadline during which the U.S. Forest Service must formulate recovery plans for areas damaged by wildfires.

Economic Recovery – During the current economic crisis, the Grange delegates urged a careful review of economic bailouts of banking institutions and corporations. With the looming possibilities of large-scale personal bankruptcies, the Grange delegates urged lawmakers to regulate credit card issuers to make terms in easy to understand language and restrict interest rates to not more than five percent above the prime lending interest rate. Grange delegates believe that global treaties and agreements need to be carefully overseen by Congress to ensure that the sovereignty of the United States is not diminished or surrendered. The Grange delegates also expressed their strong concerns regarding the current and future size of the federal deficit. They called on the Federal Reserve to immediately focus their attention on adopting pro-growth economic policies that will benefit the nation’s farming and rural communities.

Health Care Reform – Grange delegates directed the National Grange to support health care reform that includes access to affordable, portable health care, health insurance and prescription drugs for every American. To address personal economic hardships, Grange delegates urged that any health care reform make it simple for all Americans to carry catastrophic health insurance. Delegates further called for a cap to be placed on malpractice suits to help reduce the cost of health care and make it possible for physicians, especially those in rural areas, to continue practicing medicine.

Delegates supported efforts to protect current Medicare programs or current private health insurance coverage with no reduction in coverage. Grange delegates believe that more emphasis is needed on preventive care that assist patients in taking responsibility for their own care but do not mandate participation.

Labor and Immigration – The Grange delegates voted to oppose the Employees Free Choice Act and strongly urge that the process to determine union representation in the workplace continue to be by secret ballot. Delegates further endorsed the findings of the “Flextime Options Project,” in order to build national awareness of the benefits of flexible workplace solutions to individual circumstances. The Grange delegates also called on the federal government to increase border security to curb illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and the potential for foreign terrorist attack, while streamlining the process for legal immigration to allow employers in agriculture and other business sectors to secure workers.

Protecting Our Children – Addressing pressing needs to further protect our nation’s children from exploitation and harm, Grange delegates supported passage of legislation that would allow children’s Social Security numbers and other private information to be frozen by the child’s parents or legal custodian in the same manner as adults in order to protect them from identity theft.

In his keynote address to the 143rd National Grange Convention, National Grange President Ed Luttrell called on the U.S. Congress to “halt the increases of the federal deficit and to begin the process to shrink the deficit over the coming years.” Luttrell pointed out that the deficit for the year just completed is three times more than the level of the previous annual record, and that 28 of every 100 dollars spent in the United States last year was spent by the federal government

Luttrell claimed that Cap and Trade legislation will add dramatically to U.S. energy costs and that the proposed health care reform bill is estimated to add two trillion dollars to the deficit. “The question each American needs to ask is, how much can we afford?” he continued. Targeting health care reform, Luttrell said that U.S. citizenship does not ensure a wide variety of entitlements and that giving someone something free means taking it from someone else who earned it.

Amidst this polarized political world, Luttrell offered up the Grange as a non-partisan, neutral place where people can discuss issues in a non-adversarial mode. He portrayed the Grange as one of the “few places in American communities that can bring together as diverse a variety of views while striving to keep friendships and personal relationships after the discussion.” He pointed out that the Grange does not affiliate with any political party and does not endorse individual candidates for political office.

Frank Fear, Michigan State University Associate Dean in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, told an audience gathered for the National Grange’s 143 rd Convention Host Banquet that agriculture and rural America need the Grange in order to remain vital and relevant during these days of budget cuts and rearranged government priorities. As the advocacy organization for Agriculture and rural America, the Grange has an important role to play in keeping agriculture and rural America vital parts of our society. “We need the Grange,” he declared. “The Grange can make sure that rural America is not left out when priorities are being set.”