MS HR66

Commends and congratulates the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation on its 100th anniversary, officially chartered October 30, 1922, with C.L. Neill of Jones County elected as first president.

Recognizes the organization's mission to cultivate an environment for farmers, ranchers, and rural Mississippians to improve their lives and livelihoods through grassroots advocacy with offices in all 82 Mississippi counties.

Acknowledges the Farm Bureau's role in passing significant legislation including a right-to-farm bill, emergency road and bridge funding, and rural broadband Internet access.

Notes the organization's success with Initiative 31, which collected 120,000 signatures and resulted in 73 percent voter approval in 2011 to amend the Mississippi Constitution restricting eminent domain for private development.

Recognizes 17 Mississippi commodities promoted by the Farm Bureau: aquaculture, beef, corn, cotton, dairy, equine, forage, forestry, honeybees, horticulture, peanuts, poultry, soybeans, sweet potatoes, swine, rice, and wheat.