The political development of the American Farm Bureau Federation leading to its stand on the wheat referendum of 1963 : factors influencing the 1963 wheat referendum vote in Ellis County, Kansas

Abstract

An attempt has been made in this study to present a concise history of the political development of the American Farm Bureau Federation and to show how economic conditions of the time influenced its formation. Furthermore, a summary of the political development of the AFBF's policies that led to the Federation's stand against the Wheat Certificate Plan in the 1963 Wheat Referendum is emphasized. Although much of the credit and blame for the defeat of the Wheat Certificate plan has been accredited to the AFBF, it was the purpose of this study to ascertain to what extent the AFBF influenced the outcome of the Wheat Referendum of 1963 in Ellis County, Kansas. This research also considered several other factors which may have influenced the balloting on the county level. While the investigation concerned only one county in Kansas, the results of the questionnaire study could be applied to a certain degree on the state and national levels to better understand the results of the referendum vote in 1963.