LANSING, Mich. — Delegates to Michigan Farm Bureau’s 95th annual meeting will elect a new leader in December. Wayne H. Wood, a Sanilac County dairy farmer and the 16th president of MFB, is stepping down after 14 years in the organization’s top leadership position.

He was first elected to the board of directors in 1984 as a director-at-large, and served as vice president for 12 years before being elected president in 2000. This year’s meeting will host about 1,000 Michigan Farm Bureau members and special guests from Dec. 2-4. The election for president is slated for Dec. 4.

Gov. Rick Snyder will kick off the gathering on Dec. 2 when he addresses the delegates during the annual banquet at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and DeVos Place in Grand Rapids.

Earlier in the day, about 500 members from Michigan’s 67 county Farm Bureaus will serve as delegates considering resolutions on a range of issues, including Right to Farm, urban agriculture, transportation, data, drones, wildlife, water, elections, truck weights, road weight restrictions and more.

Sarah Black, director of MFB’s Public Policy and Commodity Division, said the organization “has been able to move a lot of difficult issues through over the last few years,” but she does expect a few resolution topics to spark discussion among delegates.

They will consider proposed changes to American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) policy related to drones and data. The policy centers on who owns data collected through the use of technology, and what happens to data once they are collected.

“This is an area that is evolving,” Black explained. “What our delegates will consider is some additional new language saying that anybody who collects, stores and analyzes proprietary data, including photographs, would have to provide full disclosure of their intended use of the data. There’s also some new language encouraging that we utilize some additional safeguards, such as encryption, to protect data.”

MFB supports the use of unmanned aircraft systems, or drones, for agriculture. The bigger questions, however, become, “When does somebody’s drone become trespassing?” Black said, or what if the technology is “being used in a way to collect information to be used against a farmer? Do we really know what drones are out there? Should they be registered?

“There are all of these questions that have to be asked because this is relatively new,” she added.

She said the proposed policy would oppose surveying and gathering data without the consent of the landowner.

Transportation continues to be of concern to members, with discussion expected on how to fix roads and how the work should be funded. In addition, Black said policy discussion will include looking at the requirements made by county road commissions regarding spring weight restrictions not being applied systematically from county to county.

“We believe users should pay for road upkeep,” she said.

In addition, new language is being proposed that would “regionalize” the administration of spring weight restriction requirements. “These days, most farmers don’t operate in just one county – they’re operating in multiple counties. Our policy says we would support development of a zone, or regional system, to enforce frost laws instead of a county-by-county system,” Black said.

The resolutions being considered were consolidated by MFB’s Policy Development Committee, from hundreds of measures submitted by county Farm Bureaus.

Resolutions adopted at the meeting dealing with state issues will direct MFB actions in 2014.

Adopted resolutions will be forwarded to the AFBF for consideration at its annual meeting Jan. 11-14, 2015, in San Diego, Calif.

The state’s Young Farmer group will take center stage Dec. 3 during the daylong Young Farmer Discussion Meet. The winner will be announced at that evening’s awards banquet. Earlier that day, Marge Karker Scholarship winners will be recognized during the Promotion and Education luncheon.

Deb Schmucker, director for MFB’s Center of Education and Leadership Development, said the scholarship recipients are being honored this year “to heighten the awareness that the program is there for Farm Bureau members and to encourage more participation.”

Winners of the other Young Farmer awards, including Outstanding Young Agricultural Leader, Excellence in Agriculture and Outstanding Young Farm Employee and Outstanding Young Farmer Achievement, will be announced during the Dec. 2 banquet.

In other awards, MFB will honor the winners of the Champions of Excellence, Agricultural Communicator of the Year, Agricultural Educator of the Year, Agricultural Promoter of the Year, Ecology Leadership and Volunteer of the Year.

“Honoring our award winners is about making sure our members are recognized for all of their efforts,” Schmucker said. “Awards such as Ag Promoter, Educator and Communicator are key awards for the success of our organization. These folks help carry the water out there when we need communication about agricultural issues, food and fiber and about educating consumers.”

Visit www.michfb.com for more information about the annual meeting.