November 20, 2021

NDFB President addresses annual meeting attendees

Topic: Events

NDFB members gathered to celebrate the 79th Annual Meeting and form policy that will guide the organization into the next year, Nov. 19-21, at the Holiday Inn, Fargo.

The annual meeting kicked off Friday afternoon with NDFB President Daryl Lies speaking about the importance of strengthening our voice about the importance of agriculture.

“We need to provide clarity. Now more than ever we must stand for NDFB’s core beliefs of freedom, opportunity and self-reliance,” Lies said. “More and more we are seeing intentionally misleading messaging, not only from politicians and pundits but also from some farmers and ranchers. This causes confusion in a time when we need clarity of who we are and what we do!”

He said agriculture is under attack from those who don’t like us in the environmental community, and in the animal rights community. He also said politicians are increasingly attacking agriculture. Even people in the farming and ranching industry are creating misinformation and confusion. He cited a recent example of a farmer creating a Tik Tok video that purported farmers were getting paid to destroy crops. Lies said he spent many hours on the phone with members and non-members alike undoing the damage created by misinformation in the video.

“Our messaging is more important than ever before. We must not intentionally mislead with emotion or misinformation. Rather, the truth, facts, the real story, and issues we face regarding what we do and what are about must be shared. By creating what I like to call ‘realmotion’ - an emotional connection based on realities and facts not over-stated hype – we can make a difference and create a better future for all of agriculture.”

Lies has been president of NDFB since 2015. He is from Douglas, N.D. and raises hogs, sheep, and goats with an emphasis in show animals.