2013 Arkansas Farm Bureau Annual Report

STRO FA R M

B U R E AU

ONG

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

BY RANDY VEACH “ … and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

W

Ecclesiastes 4:13

hen scripture lines up with your thoughts on a particular topic, you most likely are thinking clearly on that subject.

So I was excited when a friend threw a little Ecclesiastes my way recently and referenced how three cords, together, are not easily broken. Because that is just how I see the strength of Arkansas Farm Bureau.

It is when we are together, united in our efforts to improve the situation for the men and women of agriculture, that we are at our strongest.

Looking back on the past year, I see many areas where our organization stood together — strong — for the betterment of agriculture.

Certainly, we enjoyed a good measure of success in the most recently completed legislative session, winning several tax breaks that have a direct impact on agriculture. With the help of our elected officials, and the impact our organization has on the General Assembly, we enacted more than $17 million in annual tax cuts that impact agriculture.

As many of you are aware, Ewell Welch completed a stalwart career with Farm Bureau, including an 11-year run as executive vice president to close out 36

years with the organization. His strength of character and wisdom have been a great benefit to me, personally, and to all those who work closely with the organization.

Our support for the families operating C&H Hog Farm in Newton County has been unwavering, because we know they have gone above and beyond state and federal environmental standards with their new facility. It is a shame that someone who should be exalted for their stewardship is instead targeted by those who question their livelihood. That family has certainly felt the support and strength of Farm Bureau, though, and for that I am thankful.

Our policy development process has benefited from a renewed focus at the county level, and the policies we vote on reflect an even stronger voice of the people. That should result in an even stronger Farm Bureau.

Looking forward to next year, I am anxious to access Rodney Baker’s deep set of experiences as he leads the organization as the next executive vice president.

As always, we have much to do in the coming year, though I know the organization is braided as a threefold cord, because we are together.

The attributes that make Arkansas Farm Bureau successful — and strong — are the hands, feet and minds of your, our volunteer leaders.

I am thankful for your willingness to be part of something that is meaningful and impactful.

God bless you and your families.

God bless the farmers and ranchers.

God bless Arkansas Farm Bureau.

Together, we stand Farm Bureau Strong.

Strength of single purpose page 8

Strength of wisdom page 10

Strength of Spirit page 12

Strength of caring page 14

Strength of youth page 16

STRENGTH reveals itself in

its benefits. It is an essential

many ways and often appears

element in the human story.

where and in the form we least

This annual report seeks

expect it or ever imagined it

to reveal some of the

could come. It is mercurial in

behind-the-scenes, less

nature. It seems elusive when

obvious strengths displayed

we most need it. We think we

throughout Arkansas Farm

know it and see it but easily

Bureau: the strength of

misidentify its source. And we

single purpose, the strength

often don’t realize we already

of wisdom, the strength of

have it when hopeless to

Spirit, the strength of caring,

ever believe we can muster

and the strength of youth.

“I don’t know Webster’s definition of grassroots. But my definition is a group of individuals coming together with a single-driven purpose — that being to further agriculture — be good stewards of the land and just care of what the good Lord has given us charge over.”

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FRED NICKERSON

A single-driven purpose

F

red Nickerson runs a cowcalf operation on 120 acres in Sweet Home. It’s one of a dwindling number of farms in Pulaski County. The 67-year-old’s commitment to ranching covers more than 50 years even though he didn’t come from a farming or ranching family. His father was a railroad man, a profession Fred pursued, too, retiring as a locomotive engineer after 35 years.

Fred caught the love for cattle from his uncle who farmed soybeans and cotton and raised cattle. “My uncle used to come over to our house and get me out of bed and say ‘There’s work to be done.’ Then we’d go to his farm, and there was always some kind of work to do,” Nickerson said.

He laughs at the memory, saying he wished his parents had rescued him from time to time from all that hard work but admits his uncle prepared him for what he knew he’d need the rest of his life. “There was a strength that my uncle taught me,” Nickerson said.

At 16, he purchased one of his uncle’s heifers for $85, and he’s been raising cattle ever since. After graduating from high school, Fred went into the service and was shipped off to Vietnam. Even halfway across the world in the middle of a war, he was still thinking about cattle.

“I would send a little bit of my money home to my uncle and when he would get enough together, he’d buy me a heifer,” Nickerson said. “When I got back to the states, I think I had four head.”

From that he built his herd, and he built it into something special. Fred enjoys taking care of his animals. In 2010, the Nickerson family was named Pulaski County Farm Family of the Year. Throughout, he’s been actively involved in Pulaski County Farm Bureau. He believes the strength of the organization comes from its people

and their service toward the common goal of bettering agriculture.

“We talk about it being a grassroots organization. I don’t know Webster’s definition of grassroots,” Nickerson said. “But my definition is a group of individuals coming together with a single-driven purpose — that being to further agriculture — be good stewards of the land and just care of what the

“I think this farm will remain in agriculture for generations to come.

The future is bright for agriculture for those who want to remain in agriculture.”

good Lord has given us charge over.”

Fred says he’s never known a hungry day. But he knows there are those that not a day passes without hunger entering their thoughts. “I guess we’re blessed with the ability to produce an abundance, but it may not always be this way” he said. Not wasting it and getting it to those who need it most is one of the big reasons why Farm Bureau needs to keep agriculture strong.

Keeping farming and ranching vibrant is also important to Fred for future generations. Even in an urban area, he sees a future for his farm. His grown son and daughter often work on the farm. And his three grandchildren come after school and feed the calves and the barn cats.

“I think this farm will remain in agriculture for generations to come,” Nickerson said. “The future is bright for agriculture for those who want to remain in agriculture.”

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“I’m a professional volunteer.

I get a kick out of helping people and getting things done.”

10

BARBARA SUTTON

Professional volunteer

B

arbara Sutton is president of Miller County Farm Bureau, and she believes in getting things done. She’ll tell you the strength of Farm Bureau is “… bringing everybody together for a purpose.”

And Barbara Sutton lives a life of purpose.

“I’m a professional volunteer,” she said. “I get a kick out of helping people and getting things done.”

The 73-year-old joined Farm Bureau with her husband Donald in 1972. He was an electrical engineer who worked back and forth overseas when they were raising their son and daughter. They run a cow-calf operation.

“He would go overseas, and I would mess up everything on the farm,” she recalled. “Then he’d come home and have to spend a month or so getting everything back in order before he left again.”

Getting things in order hasn’t been a problem for Barbara Sutton in doing her volunteer work for Farm Bureau.

She’s been active with her county Women’s Committee, which she now chairs, for years and has been the county president the past two years.

She credits her fellow board members and friends who either work for or volunteer — like she does for other local ag organizations — for helping her get things done.

“All I have to say is, ‘Guys, I need …,’ and they’re there to get it done,” Sutton said.

What gets done serves more than 700 children in the county. Events include the Four States Fair, 4-H Fishing Derby, the Back to Nature day and the Runnin’ WJ Ranch program.

The latter is a favorite for Barbara.

“Kids with handicap issues regularly go to the ranch and are in charge of taking care of their horse the whole

time they’re with them,” she said.

“Those horses are so well trained, and the bond those children forge with them while they’re together is a special thing to see.”

The Back to Nature day is another great event for children 8 to 18 years old who, otherwise, would probably never get the opportunity to see agriculture-related or natural-resources-based activities.

“It’s [Farm Bureau] a great group of people getting together and doing things for our fellow man. I love it.”

“That one-day event takes a lot of effort to prepare for, but the agencies, ag partners and volunteers involved all do a great job,” Sutton said. She says the children attending are primarily underprivileged and from the city. “We show them how things were done in the past on the farm and how they’re done now, and they get to go on a hayride. They get to see and participate in things they’d probably never get to do.”

The Four States Fair is another big event to prepare for, and the county Farm Bureau and other ag partners and volunteers are involved in numerous activities with children throughout it. The 4-H Fishing Derby is always popular with the kids.

Bringing everybody together for a purpose, helping people and getting things done: these are the things that motivate Barbara Sutton and her Miller County Farm Bureau volunteers.

“It’s a great group of people getting together and doing things for our fellow man. I love it.”

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“We’re making a difference in people’s lives. The reason I’m here doing what we do is because I faced hunger, too. I’m exactly where I want to be, and I’m exactly where God wants me to be. I just didn’t know it. Now I do.”

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LAURA RHEA

Right where God wants me

A

rkansas is the most food-insecure state in the country …

The irony in that is agriculture and its associated supporting infrastructure is Arkansas’ largest economic engine, responsible for one out of every six jobs. Overall, Arkansas is ranked number15 in the country in total cash receipts for the agriculture products it produces. We’re first in rice production, second in chickens, third in turkeys, seventh in eggs and ninth in soybeans.

Yet Arkansas is the most food-insecure state in the country.

Fortunately, Laura Rhea lives in Arkansas, and through the Arkansas Rice Depot she oversees, she and her tiny staff, donors and 7,500 caring volunteers all have a passion and mission for feeding the hungry statewide.

Arkansas Farm Bureau has been involved in sponsoring the Rice Depot and providing volunteers for years.

Laura says Arkansas Rice Depot is a faith-based hunger-relief organization motivated by a simple yet powerful verse from the book of Isaiah: “If you give food to the hungry and satisfy those who are in need, the darkness around you will turn to the brightness of noon.”

That verse and the supporters of the depot’s efforts are the great strengths that feed this mission’s efforts.

“It’s the people of Arkansas,” Rhea said when asked where the strength comes from to tackle hunger here.

“We’re a faith-based food bank. We believe God calls us to feed the hungry, and it’s a privilege for us to feed the hungry. Farm Bureau has been very good to us.”

The areas of focus include disaster relief, school children, the elderly and food for needy families. More than 900 hunger-relief programs receive food from the Rice Depot. Food in its 55,000-square-foot warehouse turns over every two months. Laura points to

one of the building’s long rows of nearly empty shelves and says, “It takes $10,000 to fill it and one week to empty it.”

Activity is everywhere. One spice-scented room is full of chattering volunteers from Hot Springs Village filling self-contained meals of beans and rice into long plastic sleeves. A much larger room is a buzz of activity as people sort and label shiny food cans. A huge deep-freeze room causes

“We believe God calls us to feed the hungry, and it’s a privilege for us to feed the hungry.”

Laura to scrunch down in the seat of her motorized wheelchair in a feeble attempt to stay warm. Workers on forklifts empty a semi-truck with a large food donation.

Back in her office she talks about the Food for Kids program that benefits 38,000 schoolchildren in Arkansas with colorful backpacks loaded with food, so the children will be ready to learn when they come to school. She’s proud of those kids. “Seventy-five percent of seniors in Food for Kids went on to college, vo-tech school or the military.”

Rhea says it was “God’s idea,” just something “… He hit me in the head with.” The incredibly successful program is now being replicated nationwide, as well as in Mexico.

She tears up often as she tells numerous uplifting stories. “We’re making a difference in people’s lives.

The reason I’m here doing what we do is because I faced hunger, too. I’m exactly where I want to be, and I’m exactly where God wants me to be. I just didn’t know it.

“Now I do.”

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“It’s amazing how many people fall through the cracks when it comes to getting the help they need following a disaster.”

Front row (l to r): Regina Oliver, Laurie Richardson, Vice President Mike Richardson, Belinda Wright and Roger Thompson.

Back Row: Linda Parish, Jack Parish, Todd Johnston, Dan Yandell, Buck Mathews, Mike Carson and President Dan Wright.

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SCOTT COUNTY FARM BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS

People who care

V

olatile spring weather is common in Arkansas, and farmers and ranchers expect it. So it was in Scott County after heavy thunderstorms on May 30 caused flash flooding that night and into the early morning of May 31 along the Fourche La Fave River and its feeder creeks. The flooding killed five people, severely damaged property and washed away livestock on numerous farms in the county. The dead included county sheriff Cody Carpenter and Arkansas Game & Fish Commission Wildlife Officer Joel Campora, both swept away while trying to rescue two women trapped in a house. The women also died.

“We were all in shock,” said Scott County Farm Bureau President Dan Wright. In the morning light, Wright, 53, and other Farm Bureau county board members moved about as best they could assessing the damage.

Such a tragic story might stay on the national news for at least a couple of days as search teams looked for those missing. However, on the evening of May 31, a 2-½-mile-wide tornado, later dubbed “The Monster Storm” by National Geographic magazine, touched down outside of Oklahoma City. The national news media, and with it the nation’s attention, shifted west across the Arkansas state line into Oklahoma to one of the biggest and most destructive tornados ever. Scott County, Arkansas quickly faded from the American consciousness but not that of its county Farm Bureau board members.

“We went and talked to the folks to see what was needed. The damage was incredible, and there was a lot of livestock lost, too,” Wright said.

In all, Wright says 25 farmers were affected. Unfortunately, it would later be learned that only five qualified for federal disaster money.

“It’s amazing how many people fall through the cracks when it comes to

getting the help they need following a disaster,” Wright said. He says the waters may have receded, and farmers and ranchers did what was necessary to rebuild their livelihoods again, but those families were still hurting, many having spent all they had just to hang on.

“There were a lot of people who didn’t qualify for disaster money but still needed help,” Wright said. So Scott County Farm Bureau developed the

“It doesn’t take that many people to make a difference.”

Y-City Ag Disaster Relief Fund to help needy farm and ranch families affected by the flood in the county.

Dan says he made a phone call to Arkansas Farm Bureau President Randy Veach and asked for the state board’s help. Ironically, at the time, the state Farm Bureau office was working on a letter encouraging its membership to help those affected by the tornado in Oklahoma.

President Veach says Ewell Welch, then executive vice president of Farm Bureau, told him “We’ve got people here in Arkansas who need our help right now.” The two went to the state board with Scott County’s request for help. That help came with a $5,000 donation and almost $5,000 more raised at the Officers & Leaders conference.

In all, Dan says $16,351.25 was raised, the final $1.25 from a local youngster who gave the last of his weekly allowance “to help the farmers.”

Dan says the feedback from those helped by the fund has been heartfelt and thankful.

For Dan Wright, the strength of Farm Bureau is obvious. “It doesn’t take that many people to make a difference,” he said. “It just takes people who care.”

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“You don’t have to be a farmer or a scientist who’s going to create the next generation of soybeans to feed the world. You can just be you and bring what you have to the table.

And I like the aspect of being in the FFA, and I like that you can make a difference in the field of agriculture no matter what you’re doing.”

16

SUNNI WISE

All about ag

S

unni Wise, 18, is young, vivacious and all about ag. The Southern Arkansas University freshman is majoring in agriculture education.

She’s also fully immersed this school year in ag issues as the 2013-14 state secretary for FFA. For Sunni Wise, it’s all about ag; strange, coming from a girl who didn’t grow up on a farm or get interested in agriculture until high school. The ag bug bit the Bismarck High School graduate in ninth grade.

“I signed up for my first ag class, because some of my friends were showing goats. I thought that was really cool,” Wise said. “I didn’t show a goat until tenth grade, and I absolutely fell in love with all of it.”

She showed goats the rest of high school and got involved with FFA. “I found my passion. No matter where you come from or what you do, you can be something, be who you want to be and work toward success in the FFA,” Wise said. “You don’t have to be a farmer or a scientist who’s going to create the next generation of soybeans to feed the world. You can just be you and bring what you have to the table.

And I like the aspect of being in the FFA, and I like that you can make a difference in the field of agriculture no matter what you’re doing.”

Originally, Sunni thought she wanted to be a veterinarian. Then she realized that wasn’t it. She wanted to be around animals, she wanted to help people, and she wanted to make a difference. In eleventh grade, her ag teacher told her, “Sunni, I think you’d make a great ag education teacher.”

She says she brushed it off, but then got to thinking seriously about it.

“My entire life I wanted to work with animals, which would be an ag teacher. I wanted to work with kids, which would be an ag teacher,” she said. “And I wanted to make a difference. What other job can you have to

make a difference in the lives of people to help build them up into the people they want to be?”

It was then she knew she was going to be an ag teacher. “I’m really interested in Farm Bureau’s Ag in the Classroom program,” she said.

Through FFA, she’s become familiar with Arkansas Farm Bureau. Sunni was a Discussion Meet winner while in high

“I found my passion.

No matter where you come from or what you do, you can be something, be who you want to be and work toward success in the FFA.”

school, proof of her skill in speaking intelligently about agriculture issues.

“Farm Bureau is an asset to FFA but just like FFA, Farm Bureau is only as strong as its members are,” Wise said. So Farm Bureau can look to FFA, and FFA can look to Farm Bureau for strength. They’re beneficial to each other like a symbiotic relationship, and the result is both are helping the agriculture industry.”

Helping spread the good word about agriculture, that’s what Sunni Wise is all about. She says her FFA experience has even helped her teach her family about ag. She’s even managed to get her 14-year-old brother interested in agriculture.

“My little brother, Baylen, sent me a text recently ‘Sister I joined ag’ when he joined FFA,” Wise said. “He’s 14 now and has wanted to be a farmer since he was 12. How cool is that?”

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2013 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Front row (l to r): Brent Lassiter, vice chairman, YF&R Committee, Newport (Jackson Co.); Brian Walker, chairman, Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee, Horatio (Sevier Co.); Tom Jones, secretary/treasurer, Pottsville (Pope Co.); Rich Hillman, vice president, Carlisle (Lonoke Co.); Randy Veach, president, Manila (Mississippi Co.); Ewell Welch, executive vice president, North Little Rock (Pulaski Co.); Janice Marsh, chairwoman, Women’s Committee, McCrory (Woodruff Co.); and Sherry Felts, vice chairwoman, Women’s Committee, Joiner (Mississippi Co.).

Second row: Rusty Smith, Des Arc (Prairie Co.); Terry Dabbs, Stuttgart (Arkansas Co.); Mike Freeze, Keo (Lonoke Co.); Leo Sutterfield, Mountain View (Stone Co.); Allen Stewart, Mena (Polk Co.); Richard Armstrong, Ozark (Franklin Co.); and Mike Sullivan, Burdette (Mississippi Co.).

Back row: Joe Christian, Jonesboro (Craighead Co.); Bruce Jackson, Lockesburg (Sevier Co.); Gene Pharr, Lincoln (Washington Co.); Jon Carroll, Moro, (Monroe Co.); Troy Buck, Alpine (Clark Co.); and Johnny Loftin, El Dorado (Union Co.).

WORDS GREGG PATTERSON STEVE EDDINGTON

PHOTOS KEITH SUTTON

DESIGN CHRIS WILSON

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