Iowa Farm Bureau Federation

The first county farm bureaus in the state of Iowa were organized in Clinton and Scott counties on September 1, 1912. The purpose of the farm bureaus was to coordinate the agricultural activities of the county and to work in cooperation with other local farm associations. The farm bureaus also employed a county agent to act as leader, and it was his responsibility to conduct agricultural demonstrations, offer advice to individual farmers, conduct agricultural meetings, and work with rural schools. The agent was supported financially by grants from the federal and state governments and funds raised within the organized counties. In addition, the county farm bureaus of Iowa cooperated directly with the United States Department of Agriculture and the Iowa State College (University) Agricultural Extension Department.

Within five years of the formation of the first farm bureaus in Iowa, farmers in thirty counties were organized. As the United States entered into World War I, an effort was made to organized the farmers in all of Iowa's counties. By June 1, 1918, all ninety-nine counties in Iowa were organized, forming a total of one hundred farm bureaus (Pottawattamie county was split into eastern and western halves).

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