AFBF, NFU launch Farm Town Strong to battle opioids

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall and National Farmers Union leader Roger Johnson joined ranks on stage at NFU’s annual convention Sunday to build awareness of AFBF and NFU's joint campaign, Farm Town Strong (FTS), against opioid addiction in rural America. At the NFU event in Kansas City, Mo., Duvall, Johnson and Anne Hazlett, a top USDA Rural Development official assigned to focus on relief from the opioid crisis, told of friends and family members who’ve died or suffered from opioid addiction. Duvall called FTS efforts “a great area for us to join together.” Johnson said the farm groups need to “help educate people more and more. It’s about our families; it’s about our communities,” he said. The three spoke of the need to hitch their organizations’ efforts to those in rural communities.