2009 Annual report for Arkansas Farm Bureau

eventy-five years. That’s how long Arkansas Farm Bureau has been around. That’s about a lifetime for most folks.

Seventy-five years. Whether it represents a birthday or an anniversary, it’s a time for reflection — a look at the past, a vision for the future.

A lifetime may be measured in years, however its significance is valued by relational bonds formed and their ability to endure the intense heat and pressures of life; by its brilliance in service to others; and by its soul — a strength that transcends the physical while displaying the unique beauty of the individual.

Maybe that’s why the diamond is representative of 75 years. It, too, is the creation of similar means. A combination of high heat and intense pressure form diamond crystals made up of lasting bonds, creating an exceptionally durable and hard material of great individuality, strength and beauty.

For 75 years, Arkansas Farm Bureau has drawn and forged its strength through the relationships of its members. Their relationships and individual strengths forming strong bonds that have served the membership and agricultural community well. The following pages feature some of those lives — of old, young and in-between. They are examples of the collective soul of an agricultural lifestyle that we consider strong and beautiful — like a diamond.

Randy Veach

Ewell Welch

President’s Report

Executive Vice President’s Report

y first year as president of Arkansas Farm Bureau has been like a ride at the Arkansas State Fair, constant motion with moments of exuberance and glee mixed with white-knuckle expectation while wondering what is around the next turn.

I have been humbled and honored to fill the role of president of Arkansas Farm Bureau, a title only 10 have claimed in the past 75 years. I see this role as one of service, and it is service I willingly and wholeheartedly accept.

Representing you, I have been to China, where I promoted Arkansas agriculture products and tried to break down some of the barriers that are prohibiting the sale of certain Arkansas agricultural products to the Chinese. Upon my invitation, we welcomed the Agricultural Trade Promotion Agency of the People’s Republic of China to Arkansas, where they saw first-hand the high quality and availability of Arkansas agricultural products.

I spent a week in Panama, where I made some great contacts interested in buying more Arkansas agricultural products.

From travels half way around the world to a quick trip just one county over from my Mississippi County home, I’ve honestly loved every minute on the road representing Arkansas Farm Bureau. I’ve tried to learn as much as possible along the way and done my best to represent Arkansas agriculture and the Farm Bureau membership the best way I know.

Your organization accomplished much in 2009. This includes a very successful effort with the 87th Arkansas General Assembly. During the session, Arkansas Farm Bureau was the fulcrum that enabled passage of meaningful reform to the state’s animal cruelty laws. Led by Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, the new law protects animal agricultural practices, while finding middle ground on an emotional issue that finally put to bed one of the more contentious issues of the past few sessions. Others are holding up the new law as an example of legislation for their states to emulate.

Other legislative successes in the 2009 session included the reinstatement of oral farm lease agreements, passage of a dairy stabilization program, and funding for a Discovery Farms program. Farm Bureau also helped pass

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legislation calling for an adjustment to funding levels for the soils lab testing facility, renewed funding for an alternative fuels development program, and secured legislation to help curb metal theft by implementing tougher sales reporting requirements.

Several organizational successes this year are also worth noting: • Our members, again, actively participated in our General Motors partnership. Farm Bureau members have purchased more than 5,000 vehicles since the program began in 2008, saving more than $3 million; • We enrolled a record number of participants in our “How to Win an Election” seminar, further connecting the Farm Bureau name with legislative success; • Our new Mobile Ag Experience trailer enhanced our outreach efforts, allowing us to reach school-age children with facts about Arkansas agriculture products; • We expanded our Rural Health & Safety committee to add responsibility for rural development. We are working with Connect Arkansas to make broadband access available in all parts of Arkansas.

• We continued to take advantage of changing technologies to bring our members closer, including expanded use of video conference technologies and social media outlets such as Facebook and YouTube; • Our Web site, www.arfb.com, in fact, surpassed 4 million page views during the past year, a record; • In addition, we reshaped the format for our state resolutions meeting as we continue to refine the best way to determine policy for this great organization.

Space here doesn’t allow me to explain fully the blessings I’ve received while conducting the business of this great organization. The reception I’ve received from all of you and from dignitaries around the globe has been phenomenal. I know it’s because of our reputation, fostered by those who preceded me in Arkansas Farm Bureau. Seventy-five years of honesty and success create quite a calling card. I’m humbled to lead such a meaningful group of magnificent people.

It’s clear that 2009 was a year of many successes for Arkansas Farm Bureau. As I look forward to 2010, I can honestly say that I can’t wait to get on the road again.

s Arkansas Farm Bureau passes 75 years of existence, I believe the history of our organization has left our collective soul with deep wisdom.

That wisdom is on display throughout this special annual report, where you will read about Farm Bureau leaders who have taken the history accumulated by our organization and are building a better future for their families, communities and our state.

Few could argue about the impact our organization has made in the lives of our members, to the state, and, in many cases, the country. From that launching point, imagine what can happen in the next 75 years.

Arkansas Farm Bureau closed the 2009 membership year with 220,970 member families. Although that total represents a loss of 6,188 members, I can safely say that your organization continues to be a strong viable voice for our state’s No. 1 industry — agriculture.

More than 13,000 new members joined this organization this past year, and our member renewal percentage exceeded 91 percent. In today’s economic climate, this tells me we continue to serve the needs of our diverse membership by offering products and services that create value for our members.

This past year we implemented the Voluntary Issues Fund (VIF) and at year’s end, nearly 43,000 households — or 20 percent of our membership — chose to support this activity. This support will allow Farm Bureau to strengthen its involvement in the public policy process in areas that affect our member-defined policy positions.

As the nation’s financial markets continue to improve, our investment portfolio has recovered from the unrealized losses of last year. The requirements of the accounting standards to present our investments at market value resulted in an unrealized gain of $1.764 million during this past year, which more than offset the unrealized loss from last year of $1.477 million.

While we appreciate the positive strides of our investments, going forward, we recognize the potential for setbacks as the economy regains balance. Inflationary pressures predicted for the coming year could translate into a reduction in market values.

Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation has sustained financial health throughout the market fluctuations thus far by, primarily, structuring our investment portfolio with fixed income securities and certificates of deposits that will be worth their par value at maturity.

The increases to investments mentioned earlier, along with effective control of expenses, enabled us to produce a positive net income for the year.

In addition to affecting our investment values, economic changes during the year decreased the discount rate required to calculate the adjustment required by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to the pension and post-retirement benefits, resulting in a decrease of $1.6 million.

This reduction combined with net income from operations results in an increase in unrestricted net assets of under $1 million. The members’ contributions to the Voluntary Issues Fund this year were just over $86,000. When the Voluntary Issues Fund contributions are added to the unrestricted net assets, the increase in total net assets for the year was $1.06 million.

Cumulative Voluntary Issues Fund contributions total $128,000.

Through the strength of our volunteer leaders — along with the continued dedication of our staff — we will come back from this membership setback, just as we have numerous times in our 75-year history. By remaining loyal to the mission and values that have made us “The Voice of Arkansas Agriculture,” 2010 will be another successful year.

Our history has taught us that much.

“History makes people wise.” — Francis Bacon, Sr., English philosopher, (1561-1626)

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Leadership: Dr. Lyndon Tate ... page 11

Driven: Brent Talley ... page 7

Perspective: Joe Burns ... page 9 Ideas: Mark Waldrip ... page 13

Opportunity: Jeremy Gillam ... page 15

Brent Talley

Driven B

rent Talley holds down at least four fulltime jobs.

Cattle rancher, PR man, husband and father, and Howard County Farm Bureau president. That doesn’t include serving on the Arkansas Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers state committee and service to his church.

But at 31, he has the energy and determination necessary to “juggle” all of those roles.

When other former young farmers have given up their service to Farm Bureau due to the time commitment that is required, Talley says for him, it’s not a hard decision.

He is driven to lead.

“It’s got to be one of those things you’re dedicated to,” Talley says. “I know preserving the way of life I love and want to raise my two daughters in is dependent on people like me making a commitment.”

Talley’s resume is impressive.

He worked for the Farm Service Agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Congressman Mike Ross’ state office.

“Working for Congressman Ross allowed me to travel across south Arkansas and learn firsthand the needs of farmers and ranchers,” Talley says.

“The desire continued to grow in me to make a difference for those families.”

In May 2007, he accepted a position as communications and external affairs coordinator for the UofA Community College at Hope, a post he still holds.

“As I was completing my work for Congressman Ross,

Farm Bureau kept coming up,” Talley recalls.

“I had the opportunity to serve on the Howard County board of directors and began to instill in young people the importance of agriculture in our state and nation.”

As a young rancher, he sees and understands the need to develop the “next generation” of Farm Bureau leaders if the organization is to be successful in achieving its objectives.

“My hat is off to those who have preceded us and served selflessly to protect our interests and way of life. Now it’s time for my generation to step up.”

Talley says Farm Bureau’s grassroots policy development and implementation process has become a “template” for other organizations to copy.

The process is crucial to Farm Bureau’s legislative success.

Talley says the men he’s worked with — including former president Stanley Reed and Howard County leaders Dennis Ritchie, Ray Rogers and Mickey Pope — inspired him to follow in their footsteps.

“It’s humbling to be 31 years old and serving as president of Howard County Farm Bureau.

When I look at the men who have gone before me such as Mr. Mickey Pope and (his wife) Miss Vivian, who started with Farm Bureau in 1946, it sets the bar pretty high,” Talley says.

“They invested years of their lives and their resources to make Farm Bureau successful. I owe it to them, and the hundreds of other leaders like them across this state, to give my all to continue the work they began.”

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Joe Burns

J

Perspective

oe Burns, 61, of Rector, has seen this before. Well, maybe not quite this bad, but he recalls heavy rains and flooding during the 1957 harvest.

“I remember riding on the tractor with my father as he cut the tops of sorghum that were sticking out of the water to save what he could,” Burns says. “This year is worse, but it’s happened before. At least now, the equipment is better for getting around in muddy fields.”

Perspective. That’s what more than 40 years in farming will do for a person. Experience will do that for you. The highs aren’t quite as high, and the lows aren’t quite as low.

The Burns’ farm got started in the 1920s when Joe’s dad, Jesse Burns, moved to Arkansas from Tennessee and started growing cotton.

Like many farmers’ sons, Joe wasn’t planning on being a farmer.

“There were tough times. I saw my parents have to put off payments and struggle just to keep the farm going year to year.” So he earned a degree in business administration from Arkansas State University in 1970, got married and landed a great job with DuPont Chemical.

However, by 1974, he came back to farming.

“I visited farmers every day in my job. They’d all ask me why I wasn’t farming,” Burns recalls. “You see the love they have for it. You feel it. I had to come back.”

The farm got as big as 4,000 acres.

Now it’s 2,500. Cotton has always been the main crop; at least half, the rest in corn, beans and a little rice.

His introduction to Farm Bureau was rocky.

“I had issues with Farm Bureau.

Then I found out I could join and influence the decisions they were making,” he says. Soon he was the county president.

“I really appreciated the opportunity. That President’s Tour to Washington, D.C. was really something.

You’ve got to speak with a united voice,” he says. “All of the different farmers I met over the years, I learned something at every meeting.”

Now he passes on that knowledge to younger farmers, though he worries there aren’t enough of them to replace folks like him. If they’ll listen, he’ll tell them: • Employ good people around you. This includes a good attorney, a solid accountant, and a skilled foreman.

• Be prepared for sleepless nights.

“You’re always going to have a few of them worrying if you’re going to make it,” he says.

• Put family before work. “Too many young farmers stay in the field too much and miss their kids’ Little League games,” he says. “Remember, wives are a good sounding board, so it takes a good woman to put up with farming.”

He smiles, because he knows what the next question is and its answer.

“Yes, I have a great wife.” Joe and Gail Burns have been married for 42 years. A marriage experiences a lot in 42 years of farming.

The interviewer asks with all of the uncontrollable variables in farm-ing, does it require the nerves of a riverboat gambler to do it.

That smile creeps back on Joe Burns’ face.

“You know Farm Bureau’s policy was against the lottery in the last election. Gambling’s not good, you know,” he says. “But my wife tells me I’m the biggest gambler she knows. She says I bet the farm on making it every year.”

Literally.

Perspective. That’s what a lifetime of farming experience gives you.

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Dr. Lyndon Tate

Leadership D

r. Lyndon Tate, 65, of Mansfield in southern Sebastian County, chooses his words carefully and speaks as a man who cares deeply about his profession.

For the past 40 years, he has been a member of an industry that is seeing its numbers decline every year.

That of large animal veterinarians.

A cattle and horse owner himself, 12 years ago Tate joined forces with other farmers and ranchers on the Sebastian County Farm Bureau board of directors.

Why? “Because I believe in its mission,” he says with a voice of calm conviction.

“To advocate the interests of agricultural producers in the public arena. Farm Bureau has helped me understand issues that affect all Arkansans, so that I can better communicate them.

“I’ve developed leadership skills and become more proactive in lobbying our local legislators on issues affecting animal welfare and ownership, and I would not have that without the influence of Farm Bureau.”

Growing up in east Oklahoma, where his father harvested spinach, sweet corn and other crops for neighbors, Tate became familiar with Farm Bureau and the programs and services it offered.

The one that impressed him the most was its leadership development.

“Farm Bureau stimulates leadership in people,” he says.

“That has become a very important entity for me. I see more young people developing leadership skills who are associated with Farm Bureau than any other organization.”

In the face of declining numbers of young people entering the field of food or large animal veterinary medicine, Tate is helping push for federal legislation that addresses this shortage.

“The Veterinary Services Investment Act would offer incentives for (large animal) veterinarians to get their degree and return to underserved rural areas to practice,” he says. “Farm Bureau has supported that legislation.

“Every day our borders are bombarded with foreign animal diseases, and it’s something we must remain vigilant about.

“I’m proud of our efforts in maintaining a safe, healthy food supply for our country.”

Tate says he may soon step down and allow younger men to serve in his place.

He wants to motivate and train the future leaders of the organization.

Tate says he does that to some extent in his involvement with the chamber of commerce and in his church, but adds, “those entities don’t reach nearly the broad populous Farm Bureau does.”

He says younger farmers and ranchers “need to be educated about how to influence the enactment of our policy and informing the public about issues that are important to all of us.

“That’s where some of us old hands can come in and help them.”

Horse ownership continues to grow in Arkansas, keeping him busy.

Arkansas Farm Bureau has a long history of supporting this industry.

“You name an equine issue and Farm Bureau has been there to help horse owners understand it.

“That’s important to me.”

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Mark Waldrip

Ideas

M

ark Waldrip, 54, is always looking for a good idea to try.

You’ll have to excuse him. It’s in his blood. His grandfather, he says, was a jackof-all-trades: a farmer, started a trucking company, and ran a commissary to provide locals with groceries and household needs.

His father, Eugene, then built up the trucking company and the farming business, buying more land. Mark grew up on that Lee County farm in Moro and “always loved life on the farm.”

He went to the University of Arkansas and majored in agriculture economics and minored in business, earning his degree in 1977.

He joined Farm Bureau that year and eventually became county president.

Fresh out of the university, he jumped on an idea developed by Dr. Fred Collins, convincing his older brother Lowell who was running the family farm to try double-cropping wheat. “It was kind of unique at the time,” he says.

A few years later, Waldrip says he was looking to add value to the farming operation. This time, the idea was growing seed stock. It began by selling rice seed to neighbors. The idea caught on. Next, a liquidation sale in Tennessee got enough equipment to expand and set up a small seed processing plant on the farm. This birthed East Arkansas Seed.

Soon after, the seed business changed dramatically. Genetic research, new technology and proprietary information all required that anyone wanting to remain in the seed business had to partner with a large company. Waldrip went with the changes and gave up farming to go fulltime into selling seed.

His next expansion included partnering with Carl Phipps, who managed Cullum Seed in Fisher, Ark., and his son Kelly.

Owner Sherman Cullum wanted to retire, so the three partnered and bought the business. The Phippses manage the day-to-day operations. The plant contracts with farmers to grow seed. Waldrip says he primarily markets seed in the Mid-South, but has customers as far east as Florida and west into Texas.

Through it all, Waldrip was active in his county Farm Bureau.

This included serving as its president in the early 1980s.

“I’ve always been appreciative of the representation the farming community receives from the united voice that Farm Bureau is able to put forward. I don’t know anybody else that does the representative grassroots consensus building that Farm Bureau does,” Waldrip says. “Farm Bureau has taken the right approach. If you have a position and believe strongly enough about it, it’ll be heard.”

His son Nathan may continue the family agriculture legacy. He recently graduated from the University of Arkansas and is working at Cullum Seed. He’ll return soon to Fayetteville to pursue a master’s degree in business administration.

Waldrip also has three daughters.

The oldest is finishing law school at UofA. “We want our children to pursue their interests, but if they want to be involved in the business, we’ll find a place for them,” Waldrip says. Just like his grandfather did. Just like his father did.

New blood. New ideas.

“I like the family aspect of farm life,” Waldrip says.

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Jeremy Gillam

Opportunity J

eremy Gillam’s dad always intended for his eldest son to learn by doing. Part of that process was allowing him to figure things out for himself.

“Dad drove me to the farm, let me out of the truck and said ‘I know you’re ready for this,’” Gillam recalls. “Then he drove away, and I don’t think I saw him again for a week.”

Jeremy Gillam was 23.

He describes his dad as being a “hobby” farmer. “He enjoyed growing things and experimented with a little of this and a little of that, but it was more of a place for him to relax from his real job,” Gillam says.

The elder Gillam turned over the 80-acre farm to Jeremy Gillam and left his son there to figure it out. Jeremy Gillam didn’t plan on being a farmer. He had more of a “CSI” pedigree with bachelor’s degrees in psychology and criminology, and he’d just gotten married. Now he’d get a different kind of degree from the school of hard knocks in farming.

“Dad knew what he was doing. I had to become my own man; learn and do things my own way,” Gillam says.

“When I went to the bank to present my business plan and ask for a loan, I went as Jeremy Gillam.”

Jeremy went into partnership with his younger brother, Doug, who was still in college at the time.

Those 80 acres of 10 years ago are now 730 with 450 acres in cultivation including: 300 in blackberries, 85 in

muscadines, 25 in blueberries, 20 in grapes, and 5 each in asparagus and peaches.

Terraced rows of fruit cover Ozarks foothills, each plant individually watered via a gravity irrigation system developed and built by the Gillams. Natural and man-made reservoirs capture rainwater and feed drip lines that water every fruit plant except the grapes. A 10,000-square-foot warehouse and storage facility features three forced-air coolers that quickly move out the hot air prevalent during the June and July harvest season and supplant that with highvelocity blasts of cold air.

“It’s the key to maintaining that fresh-picked flavor that makes our berries the best when they go to market,” Gillam says.

Gillam says he knew little about Farm Bureau when first asked to join by county member Jeff Smith. He says Smith mentored him and told him a new generation was needed to represent the fruit and vegetable growers. Smith passed away and Jeremy inherited most of his mentor’s Farm Bureau duties.

“I was a little overwhelmed at first,” Gillam recalls. “But the biggest benefit of my work in Farm Bureau has been the opportunities it’s given me to be a real voice for the fruit and vegetable industry. I’ve learned so much and been able to meet and work with so many influential people because of Farm Bureau.”

Not bad for a guy who got dropped off 10 years ago to figure it out for himself.

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2009 Board of Directors

1935 Executive Board

Front Row (from left): Susan Anglin, Bentonville; Ewell Welch, Executive Vice President, North Little Rock; Rich Hillman, Vice President, Carlisle; Randy Veach, President, Manila; John Andrews, Secretary/Treasurer, Walnut Ridge; Joe Christian, Jonesboro; Sue Billiot, Poughkeepsie. Middle Row: Matt Simon, Conway; Bryan Swinney, Rison; Troy Buck, Alpine; Tom Jones, Pottsville; Dennis Ritchie, Nashville; Leo Sutterfield, Mountain View; Todd Allen, West Memphis; Rusty Smith, Des Arc. Back Row: Richard Armstrong, Ozark; Terry Dabbs, Stuttgart; Johnny Loftin, El Dorado; Allen Stewart, Mena; Billy Sharp, War Eagle.

Front Row: J.F Tompkins, President, Burdette; J.H. Snapp, Fitzhugh; Waldo Frasier, Executive Secretary, Little Rock. Middle Row: W.E. Williams, Garland Co.; Joe Hardin, Grady; S.C. Mark, Newport; Romeo E. Short, Brinkley; H.A. Arnold, North Little Rock. Back Row: John D. Naill, Biscoe; Artemis Ward, Jr., Lonoke Co.; R.L. Russom, Carlisle; C.C. Cox, Stuttgart; R.B. Curtis, Stuttgart; H.H. Huskey, Nevada Co.