Gerald Marchant 1

Longtime Idaho Farm Bureau Board member Gerald Marchant is retiring from the IFBF Board of Directors after two and a half decades of service. He served on the Farm Bureau Board of Directors for 24-years.

 How did you get the idea to get on the Board? 

Marchant: Well I was on the County Board for years. I served as County President, I watched the Board and thought I’d like to do that one day. The opportunity came and I ran and served for 24 years. 

You’ve seen a lot of people come and go and you have seen a lot of issues come and go too? 

Marchant: Building that building in Pocatello was probably one of the biggest highlights, the most notable highlight. I had a lot of fun being involved in the decision making there with that building. We had a lot of political issues over the years, Swan Falls agreement, Federal Land issues, potato nematode issues, a lot of issues we’ve been involved with. I think we had an effect on the outcomes of all of those issues. 

Tell us about Farm Bureau clout and how it’s viewed by other groups? 

Marchant: It’s an interesting question because there are a lot of other Ag organizations that are jealous of the Farm Bureau because we do have some clout and sometimes it gets us in trouble because we are a general farm organization and we can’t take sides on really hard-line issues on something in favor of cattlemen that would hurt another segment of agriculture, we’re really careful on that. I think we’ve done a good job of balancing things out, arriving at the correct issue. I, myself haven’t always agreed with the stances we’ve taken. But I supported the Board's decision, that's the way it is and perhaps not as vocal on those issues with those I disagreed with, but I tried to support the Board’s decisions and there’s been a lot of them over the years.