Increased expenses across the board. Lower prices paid for certain crops. Diminishing interest from the next generation. Growing competition from cheap foreign imports. Massive pressure to sell for development, especially with sky-high land prices in many areas.

No matter which way you look, farmers and farming are in a tremendous pressure cooker. An industry that helped build this country is under more strain than perhaps ever before. But there is both power and relief in having a collective voice, and hundreds of thousands of farmers across the country lean on their local farm bureaus to advocate for themselves and their industry.

Now, a Leelanau County native will serve as president of the Michigan Farm Bureau, which is well known for its insurance products but also acts as the state’s top farming advocacy group. Ben LaCross, a Glen Lake graduate who grows cherries with his parents Glenn and Judy on more than 800 acres in Leelanau, was elected this month by the bureau’s members.

As far as anyone can tell, he’s the first pure cherry grower to serve as president in the organization’s 105-year history, and he's definitely the first president from Leelanau. He replaces Tuscola County sugar beet grower Carl Bednarski, who retired after 10 years as president. 

“I’m so proud to be from Leelanau County and Northwest Michigan, and to be a cherry grower,” LaCross tells The Ticker. “Cherry growing is so engrained in the culture of Michigan.”

That said, Michigan ranks second only to California in the variety of agricultural products produced, and LaCross is eager to represent all of Michigan’s farmers.

“When it comes to issues faced by a sugar beet grower down in the Saginaw valley or a dairy farmer from Missaukee County, I might not be that type of farmer, but I can still relate to the struggles they have day in and day out,” he says. “I want to work hard to (relay those struggles) to decision makers in Washington and Lansing.”

LaCross says the Farm Bureau actively lobbies on issues like regulation, trade, labor and other matters that are virtually impossible for individual farmers to meaningfully weigh in on.

“With all of these pressures, it's good that we have a voice like Farm Bureau that can help solve some of the problems that farmers face on their farms on a daily basis,” he says. “Farm Bureau can't fix every challenge that farmers face, but we…work on the issues that farmers can't solve on their own.”

Michigan Farm Bureau leadership prides itself on listening carefully to its 45,000 farm family members before heading to Washington or Lansing, LaCross says.

“What I really love about this organization is that it’s not about my decision or my opinion about how we should make decisions. It’s about what members tell us they want us to focus on in terms of priorities and policies,” he says. “What's really special about Farm Bureau is that it's a true grassroots organization and members can have input all the way up the leadership chain.”

LaCross has a long history with the organization. He served for four years on the MFB Young Farmer Committee, including two (2007 and 2008) as the committee chairman and Young Farmer Representative on the MFB board of directors. He also served on the MFB Policy Development Committee and as chair of the American Farm Bureau Federation's Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee in 2011.

Asked about his priorities, LaCross says he wants to “elevate the conversation” about how critical agriculture is to the security and prosperity of the country.

“About 30 years ago, only 14 percent of all the fresh fruits and vegetables consumed in the United States were imported. Today, that number is 50 percent, and if the trend continues…that's going to be 70 percent. I don't think that's a good trend for our country,” he says. “I think a country that can feed itself can defend itself, and a country that can feed itself allows all the other people in the country to go out and be prosperous in other areas.”

Here in northwest Michigan, cheap imports have nagged the domestic cherry industry for many years. Its something LaCross knows all too well, and he vows to keep up the fight on that front.

“Coming from the specialty crop industry and as a cherry farmer, I've seen the impact of foreign imports on our own domestic markets. I want to elevate that conversation with the USDA and Department of Commerce and those other folks who really have an impact on import and export policies,” he says. “It's not going to be a problem that we solve overnight, but I think if we can incrementally improve conditions for farmers year in and year out, to me, that's going to be a win.”