Norwegian Agrarian Association

Norwegian farmers interest organization

Norwegian Agrarian Association
*Norges Bondelag*

Formation	6 February 1896
Type	NGO
Purpose	Farming
Headquarters	Oslo
Region served	Norway
Membership	60,482 (2022)
Leader	Bjørn Gimming
Website	https://bondelaget.no

The Norwegian Agrarian Association (Norwegian: Norges Bondelag) is the largest Norwegian interest organization for farmers.

It functions both as a labour union and as a trade union. It negotiates with the Norwegian Farmers and Smallholders Union and the Norwegian Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion about agricultural subsidies. It has 61,000 members, with 475 local chapters and 14 county chapters.

The association was established in 1896 as Norges Landmandsforbund. In 1920 the organization decided to create its own political party, the Agrarian Party (now called Centre Party). In 1922 the Norwegian Agrarian Association took its present name. The organization is currently completely independent of the Centre Party.

The association has an official publication, Bondebladet, which is published on a weekly basis.^[1]

Chairman

1896–1901 Johan Theodor Landmark
1901–1905 Johan E. Mellbye
1905–1906 Gunnar Knudsen
1906–1909 Kleist Gedde
1909–1941 Johan E. Mellbye
1945–1951 Arne Rostad
1951–1955 Ole Rømer Sandberg
1955–1966 Hallvard Eika
1966–1969 Johan A. Vikan
1969–1974 Jan E. Mellbye
1974–1980 Hans Haga
1980–1987 Nils Valla
1987–1991 Kåre Syrstad
1991–1997 Bjørn Iversen
1997–2002 Kirsten Indgjerd Værdal
2002–2008 Bjarne Undheim
2008–2009 Pål Haugstad
2009–2014 Nils T. Bjørke
2014–2021 Lars Petter Bartnes
2021– Bjørn Gimming

References

^ Karoline Daugstad (September 2005). "When the farmer becomes a provider of landscapes and agritourism and the tourist wants to be a part of "real rural life" – A story of insiders and outsiders in the Norwegian landscape" (PDF). Nordic Symposium in Tourism and Hospitality Research. Akureyri. Archived from the original (Conference Paper) on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.