identity with members, providing specific leadership opportunities and leadership

 development training, and providing a job description for county board members when

 they are elected to their boards could all increase participation of individuals in Farm

 Bureau on county boards.

 Farm Bureau members who responded to this survey were over 42 years old (67%

 board, 73% active), which would indicate that the older members of the organization are

 interested enough in the organization to complete the survey that was mailed to them.

 Again, this demographic needs to be considered as younger individuals will need to be

 recruited so as to represent all ages of the Farm Bureau population. Young people will be

 needed to continue the work of the county and state Farm Bureau organizations.

 Several state officials stated that a concern of the county boards was that the older

 board members impeded the ideas of newer members and limited the progressiveness of

 county boards as they "want to do things the way they've always been done." The

 demographics in this study show that 42.1% of board members actually have the least

 tenure on the board (0.5 to 5 years) and board members who have been on the board

 fifteen or more years account for one quarter of the board member population.

 A large percentage of board members (71.4%) were also involved in other

 agricultural organizations, while a large percentage of active members (90%) were not.

 One could conclude that board members were "joiners" and active in the organizations

 that represented their interests. It could be theorized that being active in all these

 organizations could hamper their effectiveness as board members due to all the pressures

 on their time. Conversely, those who belong to organizations, especially agricultural

organizations that represent their industry interests are more likely to join additional