By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
MARS HILL, Maine — Sue McCrum, of Mars Hill, is the new president of the American Agri-Women (AAW), an organization she’s been involved with since 2001.
McCrum was installed Nov. 9 at the 2013 National AAW Convention in Niagara Falls, N.Y.
“This is a great honor because you’re voted for amongst your peers,” she said. “It’s a two-year term, and I will be serving as their voice. In fact, we have a newspaper called ‘The Voice’ that goes out six times a year, as well, and we hope to speak the truth, and we have the attitude that with our informed and educated members throughout the United States that we can speak the truth.”
American Agri-Women is the nation’s largest coalition of farm, ranch and agribusiness women with 56 state, commodity and agribusiness affiliate organizations throughout the country. It is an all-volunteer organization that has been working to advocate for agriculture since 1974.
“We’re a communication forum among our members and affiliates which numbers around 40,000,” said McCrum. “We have eyes and ears throughout the country, and we try to stay caught up with what’s going on in agriculture. We’re a grassroots organization, and there’s a lot of volunteer time spent in our group. Our mission is to communicate with one another — and with other consumers — to promote agriculture for the benefit of the American people and the world.
“Our members have been actively involved in making a difference in legislative and regulatory matters at the local, state and national levels,” she said. “We’re all about educating people on food safety; we have classroom and consumer education, and we have leadership training within our membership.”
Previously McCrum was the AAW’s vice president of resolutions and vital issues.
“In serving as an officer, it’s a six-year term combined,” she said. “You spend two years as vice president, two years as president, and then two years as the head of fundraising after that. There’s a time commitment involved, but I enjoy it.
“My sons are the fifth generation of our family farm that dates back to 1886, and I think it’s vital that different issues are researched,” said McCrum. “So many people go to the Internet, and not all stories there are researched properly. We need to counter those ‘wild stories’ that food is not healthy, and that we’re not doing our best for consumers because it isn’t true. We work extremely hard, and the most abundant, healthy and affordable food comes from the United States.”
McCrum said that less than 2 percent of those in the country are involved in agriculture.
“Of that 2 percent, about 95 percent of them are involved with family farming,” she said. “Many people have the image that we are ‘mega farms,’ but that isn’t so. However, nothing would make me prouder than to have the sixth generation be involved one day.”
The office of the AAW president, McCrum said, “goes with the president.”
“It’s a traveling office,” she said, “however, we have just been approved to hire an administrative assistant so then we will finally have a stationary address that remains steady and doesn’t have to change every two years when there’s a change of leadership within the organization.”
McCrum said there’s a fair amount of traveling involved in her new responsibilities.
“There’s also a lot of communication by phone and e-mail,” she said, “but I’m looking forward to it. Our organization is as strong as our affiliates, and the Maine Agri-Women is a great affiliate. In fact, we had 11 members out of our group follow me to Niagara Falls, which was a great honor.
“I encourage those who like to eat or wear clothes to think of where that comes from and the people that support those industries; they’re your neighbors,” said McCrum. “There’s a big push on organic and locally-grown food, but I think there’s room for all of us. I don’t think one food is healthier than another. We all grow good, healthy food in the United States.”
A past president of Maine Agri-Women, McCrum was co-chair of the AAW annual meeting hosted by Maine in 2002. Maine will host the National AAW Convention in 2015. The event will be held in the Portland area.
Along with her husband, Jay, the McCrums have farmed potatoes and small grains since 1972. They were joined by his brother and brother-in-law, and later their two sons and three nephews. The McCrum family also has a transportation operation, JDR Transport, and in 2004 bought the assets of a potato processing company, Penobscot/McCrum, in Belfast.
