This collection contains records of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation. The collection consists of annual reports, correspondence, publications, and meeting materials. Important information on the formation of the IFBF can be found in early annual reports and publications and also in Series 10, Subject Files, where transcripts of an interview with James R. Howard, first president of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation and the American Farm Bureau Federation, can be located. Records related to early rural leadership classes are also available in Series 5, County and Township Organizations. The correspondence comprises a large portion of the collection. Dating primarily from the 1950s through the 1980s, this material contains incoming and outgoing letters largely from Presidents E. Howard Hill, J. Merrill Anderson, Dean Kleckner, Robert Joslin, and Merlin Plagge. The letters include correspondence with members, federal and state legislators, IFBF officers, and other agriculture-related organizations. Minimal correspondence of other officers is also contained in the collection. The collection also contains a wide variety of printed materials and reports published by outside organizations on topics that impacted national and state agricultural policies and practices. These materials can be found primarily in Series 5, Public Policy Division; Series 8, Resource Material Unit; and Series 10, Subject Files. Other collections available in the Special Collections Department related to the IFBF include: Iowa Farm Bureau Federation Women's Committee Records, MS-189; James R. Howard Papers, MS-157; and E. Howard Hill Papers, RS 21/7/44. The Library also has cataloged a number of IFBF publications which can be found by searching the Library catalog.
