From its beginning almost a century ago, the American Farm Bureau Federation has been a strong advocate for international trade. The organization’s first president, James R. Howard, wondered what it would be like if a ship could steam up to his Iowa farm so he and his neighbors could sell their surplus corn on world markets.

This was in 1922, and Howard contemplated how the corn could be made into mush to feed starving children in Russia.

Howard’s wish wouldn’t come true until 1959 when the...