In an unprecedented move, former Illinois Farm Bureau President Brian Duncan has declined to resign from his seat as chair of the Country Mutual Insurance board.
Four other board members who also lost their re-election bids have followed suit to join Duncan: Mark Tuttle, Bob Fecht, Brad Daugherty and John Howard.
Country Financial, which includes Country Mutual, is an affiliate of the Illinois Farm Bureau [IFB]. Both are based in Bloomington.
Newly elected Illinois Farm Bureau President Philip Nelson, who defeated Duncan in December's election, has not been seated on the Country board, along with four other newly elected board members. Nelson told Prairie Farmer that "creates a strain between Country and Farm Bureau."
Nelson credited his besting Duncan over a legal dispute with the American Farm Bureau Federation in which Country Financial decided to end its requirement for insurance policyholders to be members of the Farm Bureau.
In a statement to WGLT, Duncan said his stepping down is a tradition, not a requirement.
“The Country Board serves one‑year terms that start at the Country Annual Meetings each April,” said Duncan. “The next one is on April 22, 2026. Board members can step down earlier if they want to. Some choose to do that when their IFB Board service wraps up, but they don’t have to.”
Nelson does not feel stepping down is a choice.
“We had an election in Chicago,” he told Brownfield. “Five of those people that were replaced, including the past president, haven’t resigned. In the 100-year history of Country and Farm Bureau, we’ve never seen anything like this before.”
Duncan said the IFB elections are not the same as the those that Country conducts.
“When the IFB Board picks Country Directors, they’re choosing people whose job in that role is to look out for Country and its clients, not to carry out IFB duties,” he said.
Jennifer McDade, external relations director of Country Financial, confirmed this to WGLT in a statement.
“Country operates based on the law and our bylaws, not on precedent. As a mutual insurance company, the sole requirement for Country Mutual Board members to serve is acting in the best interest of Country Mutual and its policyholders in 19 states,” McDade said.
“Country Mutual policyholders from 19 states give the Illinois Farm Bureau Board the proxy to elect and seat the Board on their behalf. The sole threshold IFB must meet is electing individuals that operate in the best interest of Country Mutual and its policyholders.”
Duncan said regardless of who is on the Country board, the group needs to maintain a focus on the organization and its clients because of ongoing litigation.
"In light of lawsuits that are underway, regardless of who is serving on the Country Board, we need to maintain a steady focus on what is best for Country and its clients," said Duncan.
Ongoing litigation, aside from the Farm Bureau membership dispute, includes a case accusing Country of hoarding profits.
A source familiar with the Illinois Farm Bureau and its affiliates told WGLT the various company bylaws sit in a gray area; they are meant to be guideposts that can be malleable to not hinder conducting business.
According to the source, it was tradition that for one to sit on the various Country boards, they needed to be first elected by the IFB delegates at the annual meeting every December. Any board members tenuring off or losing an election at the meeting, such as Duncan, would usually resign the following day and the newly elected IFB board members would then be seated, the source said.
“The sole requirement for Country Mutual Board members to serve is acting in the best interest of Country Mutual and its policyholders in 19 states,” McDade said.
Country Mutual has an upcoming meeting Jan. 21. McDade said any action taken at the meeting will be in the best interest of the company and its policyholders.
