Editor’s note: This is an ongoing story, and more stories will be published as more information becomes available. Read the stories from oldest to newest:

Nov. 8: Will Illinois Farm Bureau be kicked out of AFBF?

Nov. 13: AFBF votes to expel Illinois Farm Bureau (below)

Nov. 13: Illinois Farm Bureau files lawsuit against AFBF

The American Farm Bureau Federation has voted to terminate the membership of Illinois Farm Bureau, effective Dec. 20.

The vote came on Nov. 12 from the AFBF board of directors, which met following an unsuccessful mediation with IFB leaders, including President Brian Duncan, on Nov. 11, in Bloomington, Ill.

In an email to state presidents on Nov. 12, AFBF President Zippy Duvall wrote, “This action is based on IFB’s decision to allow its controlled affiliate company, Country Financial, to eliminate the Farm Bureau membership eligibility requirement for nonfarm insurance policyholders in Illinois.”

IFB has nearly 400,000 members; just 78,000 are farmer-members. AFBF has nearly 5.9 million members and receives $5 in dues per Farm Bureau member, regardless of farming status.

“The membership decision is expected to cause the loss of hundreds of thousands of Farm Bureau members, to the detriment of Illinois farmers, Illinois county farm bureaus, IFB and the entire Farm Bureau organization,” Duvall said.

Related:Illinois Farm Bureau files lawsuit against AFBF

IFB founded Country Cos. Insurance in 1925, which later became Country Financial and now operates in 19 states.

The decision to expel IFB comes following weeks of intense negotiations and a flurry of threats and accusations, as both IFB and AFBF made their case directly with county presidents in Illinois.

AFBF blamed IFB leadership for refusing to counter Country Financial’s decision, claiming they have the power to do so. Duncan said the decision was Country’s alone. Still, the same board governs both IFB and Country Financial, including Duncan as president, Evan Hultine as vice president and 18 district directors, all elected by Farm Bureau members.

Being expelled from AFBF means Illinois Farm Bureau will lose all national voting delegates and any say in developing policy to direct federal farm lobbying efforts, and it could lose the right to use the Farm Bureau name.

In the resolution passed on Nov. 12, AFBF declared that responsibility for the decision to eliminate Farm Bureau membership requirements for Country’s nonfarm insurance policies rests with IFB, whether the IFB board actively approved or passively acquiesced in the decision.

AFBF added that IFB violated the membership agreement by failing to promote effective cooperation and coordination, through “conduct that is inconsistent with the membership agreement” and “by failing to ensure that the governance of IFB, with respect to membership decisions, remains in the hands of bona fide farmers and ranchers.”

The resolution also stated that IFB repudiated the economic terms of the membership agreement by allowing a dramatic reduction in dues payable to AFBF, and sharply rebuked IFB’s lack of communication to AFBF. “… the manner in which IFB’s decision was reached and communicated to AFBF violates the covenant of good faith and fair dealing … and falls short of the expectations of mutual trust and integrity on which relationship among Farm Bureau organizations have been built.”

Losing a state from the federation is not a first for AFBF. The Alabama Farmers Federation left AFBF in 1981 and returned in 2005. In a statement last week, IFB said the organization was not looking to leave AFBF and valued its partnership with AFBF. IFB will hold its annual meeting in Chicago on Dec. 7-9.

Prairie Farmer has reached out to IFB and AFBF, and will update this story as they respond.

For more background information on IFB’s decision, relationship with Country, and the IFB/AFBF correspondence, check out: Will Illinois Farm Bureau be kicked out of AFBF?