Stay Informed

Despite the pandemic, Indiana Farm Bureau and its members accomplished a lot in 2020, INFB President Randy Kron said in his annual address to the membership.

The address is traditionally delivered during the INFB convention, and that was the case in 2020 as well. But due to COVID-19, INFB made the difficult decision to take the convention virtual, and attendees participated via their phones, tablets and computers instead of in person.

“No one enjoys state convention more than I do. It’s an opportunity for me to reconnect with our long-time friends and members and get to know our new ones,” Kron said. “So, canceling the in-person state convention wasn’t an easy decision, but it was made because it’s in the best interest of our members and Farm Bureau staff.”

Looking ahead to 2021, Kron noted expanding the availability of high-speed internet is INFB’s top legislative priority. Thanks to COVID-19, the need for broadband has never been clearer.

“Expanding broadband to the last mile has been a priority of Farm Bureau for several years, but it was sometimes hard for others in more urban areas to understand why that was important or even necessary,” he explained. “Then the pandemic came, and everyone understood just how important it was to be able to connect to the internet.

“So for the 2021 legislative session, we will focus on expanding broadband to the unserved and underserved in order to support education, remote work, telehealth and agriculture technology,” he said.

“Now, we don’t know what the new legislative session will look like, but we again will need all hands-on deck to accomplish this task, and I hope I can count on you,” he added.

But when reflecting on 2020, Kron noted that there was a lot to celebrate despite the pandemic.

Among INFB’s two major successes, he said, were the passage of Senate Enrolled Act 184 – which allowed INFB to offer more affordable, reliable health care benefits for its members – and, as a result of that action, the creation of INFB Health Plans.

“Two years ago, at our state convention in Fort Wayne, I made a promise to you – that we would do our best to answer the need of so many of our members – to provide them with more affordable, reliable health care,” Kron said. “After spending 18 months researching and drafting legislation, the bill finally passed in March. Using all the resources of the Farm Bureau family to deliver on our promise to you, we formed Indiana Farm Bureau Health Plans.

“And we are very excited about the reaction so far,” he added. “Since applications opened on Oct. 1, we have seen a continuous increase in applications week after week with a savings of over 50% on average for our family plans.”

Kron also highlighted the many ways INFB members continued to serve their community, which was especially needed because of COVID-19.

 “When food pantries were struggling due to increased demand, our members held food drives to deliver meat, eggs and milk directly to those in need,” he said. “In the early days of the pandemic, when personal protective equipment was in short supply, many of our members made or donated masks and other PPE to area hospitals, nursing homes and to first responders.

“Farm Bureau members always look out for one another, and I knew there was no way a pandemic was going to stop that,” Kron added.