Farm Bureau 2015 annual report

2015 ANNUAL REPORT

“We can’t safeguard our legacy without ensuring

that we enable the next generation of leaders to understand and be an active part of Farm Bureau.”

P R E S I D E N T

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R E P O R T

Randy Veach

“Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.”

– President Lyndon Johnson

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s a farmer, I spend a lot of time thinking about “tomorrow.” Whenever I think about my farm, my family and the faith that we share, my focus is on the future’s promise.

I also contemplate tomorrow when I think about Farm Bureau. While our work certainly deals with things that affect us, so much of what we consider as an organization reflects our vision for tomorrow. We work to keep farming and ranching viable for those who are going to be involved tomorrow with this noble profession.

Arkansas Farm Bureau finished our most recent fiscal year representing 190,441 member families, a cross-cut of Arkansas and agriculture, our state’s largest industry. For us to remain important for the members of tomorrow, we need a strong and active membership. That really goes without saying.

Our organization must continue to grow, to look for new and different ways to remain relevant in our advocacy efforts. The Farm Bureau name carries a lot of weight with Congress, the state legislature and throughout the political world. But that alone will not guarantee our success.

Without your commitment to embrace our past and bring about our future, we will not be the meaningful, effective voice for rural and agricultural issues that our members count upon. Our challenge is to put action to that voice, and to interject truth into our policy by making certain lawmakers understand it reflects the needs and values of the men and women of agriculture.

Farm Bureau must embrace a new wave of innovation and engagement. We are making a concerted effort to ensure that we have tomorrow’s leaders involved now with the Farm Bureau. We can’t safeguard our legacy

without ensuring that we enable the next generation of leaders to understand and be an active part of Farm Bureau.

As we look toward tomorrow, Farm Bureau must be seen as open to new ideas and new energy, while ensuring that our collective efforts remain centered on our mission: • Advocate the interest of agriculture in the public arena; • Disseminate information about the value and importance of agriculture; • Provide products and services that improve the quality of life for our members.

The importance of our organization is as critical now as it was when we were founded in 1935. While there are fewer and fewer farmers and ranchers, there is not less and less farming and ranching. The issues facing agriculture now may be different from those our founders faced more than 80 years ago, but the results of inaction are the same.

Arkansas Farm Bureau’s role, over the past and into the future, is to ensure that agriculture is relevant; that we speak on behalf of farmers and ranchers and remain a vital and necessary component of our state’s economic and political landscape.

We must work diligently if we are going to keep “Growing for Tomorrow.” As President Lyndon Johnson said, “ … tomorrow is ours to win or lose.”

It is with the utmost respect and gratitude that I serve the membership as president of this great organization.

I vow my commitment to keep my eye, and this organization, focused on tomorrow.

God bless you and your families. God bless the farmers and ranchers. God bless Arkansas Farm Bureau.

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P R O F I L E S

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rowing for tomorrow means investing now to secure the future. Arkansas Farm Bureau is committed to a vibrant

sustainable future for agriculture, the state’s largest revenue-producing business sector.

We are proud of our state’s farmers and ranchers, from the smallest to the largest.

And we are grateful for all of the volunteer efforts our Farm Bureau members invest to make Arkansas Farm Bureau the Voice of Agriculture in the Natural State.

The profiles in this report feature some

of those who are working hard now to ensure the future of agriculture, people cultivating the land and young minds. They are part of the backbone of what makes agriculture in Arkansas a national and world-recognized treasure. We are thankful and dedicated to be working with and investing in them and you.

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Jill Evans

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Clyde Fenton

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Kallem Hill

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Terry Norwood

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UAM Collegiate Farm Bureau 5

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Forever Young Jill Evans

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t’s not hard to be impressed when you meet 22-year-old Jill Evans; row crop farmer and budding rancher. Jill Evans “gets it.”

Evans grows rice, soybeans, corn and wheat on 900 acres outside Mayflower in the Arkansas River bottoms.

The family has row-crop farmed for 15 years. Her father gave her the opportunity to run the operation four years ago. She also helps daily on her grandfather’s 1,100-acre, 300-cow cattle ranch near Saltillo, a family operation since 1878. Oh, and she attends school at Arkansas Tech, dual majoring in agriculture business and animal science.

In fact, she had three exams scheduled the day after her interview for this feature.

“If I’d just stayed with ag business, I could graduate this semester, but I added animal science,” she said. “I feel like there’s knowledge I could learn.”

It is knowledge she wants to put to use. Evans has her own herd of 17 Herefords. “I keep them separate,” she said. “Or they’ll get bred by one of my grandfather’s bulls, and I won’t like it.” She’s selectively building her herd through artificial insemination. Her goal is to one day be the go-to person for high-quality Hereford bulls and cows. “I’d like to be known for them,” she said. A visit to see her herd reveals they look very healthy, clean and spoiled as she hand feeds and pets them.

Evans has farmed since graduating from high school four years ago. She attended the University of Central Arkansas before transferring this year to Arkansas Tech and tackling additional coursework in animal science. So how does a 22-year-old survive running a row-crop farm?

“What fuels my drive is when people say I can’t do it, because I’m a girl or woman,” Evans said, her passion evident in her voice. She then lists all of the things she

does: planning, seed selection, disking, planting, chemical spraying, harvesting.

“I’ve always enjoyed it (farming). That’s all I really want to do,” she said. “I guess I was given the option, we can either rent it (the land) out or I can do it on my own.

Her father and grandfather run the family construction business, H.W. Tucker, in North Little Rock. Jill has a twin sister who works there.

Evans credits her grandfather for operating under oldschool economics. Pay for everything you buy. She says the land she farms is paid off. Nothing is owed on the farming equipment she uses. All of that came into play earlier this year when heavy, late-spring rains severely flooded her bottomland fields.

“Maybe we broke even. If we’d owed on all of our equipment and owed on the land, that would have made a big difference,” Evans said.

Most 22-year-olds are enjoying life socializing with friends. However, it’s different for Evans. “There’s not always free time. Sometimes my friends are out doing other things, and I have responsibilities on the farm,” Evans said. “Everything works around the weather or when the beans or rice or corn get to a particular moisture content, you’ve got to harvest it. That’s just, to me, a part of it. Sometimes it’s a sacrifice.”

Evans giggles when she says she was always a pretty good kid and never got grounded. The joke within the family was if she ever did anything worthy of being punished, she would be forced to go out off the farm and try to have a good time.

Even though she is only 22 years old, Jill Evans gets it.

For her, the good times happen on the farm. And that’s just the way she likes it.

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The Pie Farmer Clyde Fenton

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lyde Fenton farms on 27 acres on an Ozark Mountains hilltop outside Harrison. He’s what’s known in today’s agricultural vernacular as a “specialty” farmer — someone involved in producing things like fruits, vegetables, nuts, flowers, honey or ornamental plants. However, Fenton prefers to refer to himself as a “pie farmer.” No, he’s not producing bakeshop pies, though he grows several of the berries used in real pies. His is a figurative pie with each slice representing one of the crops he produces. He describes the “pie farmer” as one having enough crop diversity – or slices of pie – that each makes enough money to make the whole pie – or farm – profitable. “You’ve got to have slices enough, so the complete pie gives you an income.”

Though growing up in a farming environment, Fenton headed in a different direction, earning a theology degree from Baptist Bible College in Pennsylvania. He took a job with a church in the state of Washington. However, he soon returned to the farm work he knew and loved.

Now, he and wife Veronica work their land with help from teenage sons Alexander, 16, and Micah, 15. They also run a farm store on nearby Highway 7. Another son, Spenser, 22, works off the farm. The couple originally farmed in New York, eventually migrating to Arkansas, where Veronica’s family is from. Fenton brought some of his New York berry plants with him to get started and was attracted by Arkansas’ longer growing season. He quickly found out that a longer growing season included more insect problems and harsher summers that required developing an adequate irrigation system. He learned and adapted. The result was drilling a well and putting in a trickle irrigation system.

Fenton intensely cultivates five acres on the farm. The fruit and vegetable crops include strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, onions, sweet corn, tomatoes, pumpkins and winter squash. He uses high-tunnel

greenhouses and open ground to grow his crops.

The Fentons market the farm as a destination for people to come and berry pick. They’ve also attracted people to the farm by having a pumpkin patch. Fenton says even though he did a lot of radio and newspaper ads to get people to come out to the farm, people would say “I never knew you were here.” So he and Veronica decided to open a farm store.

“We felt the visibility on the highway would boost people knowing we exist. That’s a huge part of it, and it gives us an outlet for our own produce,” Fenton said.

The farm store also provides a venue to sell locally sourced items not grown on the farm. “The highway is a great location for us. We gained a lot of customers by moving out there just because people would see us as they drove by.”

Fenton loves the learning process and sharing his farming knowledge. He teaches small-fruit workshops and has taught at the local community college. In December, he will complete his Master’s degree in agriculture education. “It’s in my heart to see people learn and succeed,” he said.

Fenton is also active in Boone County Farm Bureau.

He’s chairman of the Policy Development and Specialty Crops committees. “I’m a big believer in the voice of agriculture. And that’s what I believe Farm Bureau is,” Fenton said. “The more I’ve learned, the more I’ve become a fan of Farm Bureau. I really believe in the policy development process.”

Future slices of pie for his farm include more hightunnel greenhouses, planting Christmas trees and expanding the pumpkin operation. Fenton says it’s important to set goals. “Seldom do I hit them, but I still believe it’s very, very important for me to set goals,” he said. “I’ve got to be aiming at something to be moving toward something. I love farming, because that’s what God put into me.”

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Winner, Winner, Lots of Chicken Dinners Kallem Hill

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allem Hill raises chickens, a lot of chickens. He raises broilers in poultry houses he built on land scattered at the base of Petit Jean Mountain between the communities of Perry and Oppelo. He started right out of high school with one chicken house, as well as continuing the family sod-growing business started by his grandparents.

“I saw the opportunity to keep building chicken houses, so I just kept taking away sod and building chicken houses,” he said. By 2005, he was out of the sod-growing business and began aggressively expanding his poultry-growing operation. By 2009, he had nine chicken houses. His latest effort will result in four more houses that will give him a total of 18.

Hill said raising broilers properly is a hands-on process. His chickens are grown to nine pounds.

“Details with poultry are what make you a good grower. It’s really what separates you,” Hill said. “We’re blessed to have some great facilities, and we pour a lot of money into keeping them top-notch. With that said, there’s just something to paying attention to the details.

The more you’re in there, the more you pay attention to the details.”

He said one of the biggest things he’s learned is not to skimp on what’s necessary to grow a quality chicken.

Hill helped design a sophisticated water system that’s dramatically improved the water quality to his chicken houses. It includes gas chlorination, iron removal and keeping the water at an optimal pH to ensure the bird’s digestive system gets the most when processing feed. It wasn’t cheap. He also put in extra cooling pads and fans in his houses and pays more for a type of bedding he believes helps him grow a better bird.

“I used to skimp here and skimp there,” he said, referring to his input costs. “But I had to make a decision to stop doing that, and I had to go all in. So I probably

spend a lot more money than the average chicken grower.

It’s tough to grow a chicken to nine pounds in the summertime. However, if I feel I’m doing the most possible I can do, then I think that gives me a competitive edge. And that’s how we’re paid.”

Still, the best-laid plans can be upset by surprises.

Hill has had to overcome ice storms that collapsed chicken houses and a wild price swing in propane that dramatically increased his heating costs. It’s all part of the life of a farmer.

Hill said he doesn’t lose any sleep at night worrying about the potential havoc avian influenza could cause.

“It’s a concern, and it needs to be a concern. As long as I’m doing everything in my power to prevent things, that’s all I can do,” he said with a matter-of-fact shrug.

“That’s literally all I can do.”

He said strict biosecurity measures are followed for all of his chicken houses. “I’m a man of God and faith, so I trust in the Lord, too. I feel He is in control of that,” Hill said. “And if my farm gets it, He will see me through it some way, somehow.”

Hill, 35, is an active volunteer in Farm Bureau and his community. He’s the vice president of Perry County Farm Bureau and also chairs its Young Farmers & Ranchers and Poultry committees.

“I get involved as much as I can,” Hill said. Wife Erin is on the Women’s Committee. The couple has two children, 10-year-old daughter, Ryley, and 7-year-old son, Ayden.

Hill is an ordained minister and serves as youth pastor at Oppelo First Baptist Church. And he’s also involved with the Baptist Collegiate Ministry at the UA Community College – Morrilton. “It’s several churches working together,” he said. “I try to help out as much as I can, doing whatever.”

All while raising 12 million pounds of chickens.

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Pursuing His Passion Terry Norwood

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o meet Terry Norwood is to meet someone who really seems to enjoy what he’s doing. He’s a row-crop farmer. And he always wanted to be a farmer. Right out of high school he walked out of the classroom and into the field. No hesitation. There was no need to try and figure it out.

“Never wanted to do anything else, so I started farming as soon as I got out of high school,” Norwood, 44, said. “I started farming with my dad. I grew up going to the fields with him.”

Within three years, they formed a formal partnership.

Terry and Donald Norwood, 73, have farmed together ever since. They farm 1,500 acres of combined land they own and rent. Crops include soybeans (Terry’s favorite crop to grow), rice, wheat, sorghum and miscanthus, a tall grass used primarily to make ethanol or as a base for feed.

In his 26 years of farming, Norwood said technology advances have revolutionized the way he does things, and more breakthroughs are just around the corner. “It’s amazing how much the technology and equipment has advanced since I started farming, things like GMO crops.

Looking at the future is exciting.”

Norwood said he can’t wait to see what gets released next. “Seed technology has been great. Yields have increased by leaps and bounds. I’d never have dreamed that there would be 100-bushel (per acre) soybeans. I just see in the future that varieties are going to keep getting better and yields are going to keep increasing. I don’t think we’ve reached the ceiling yet,” he said.

Norwood said the better equipment is also due to technological advances. He’s very impressed with aerial drone technology and its use in agriculture. “You can more efficiently scout your fields and cover your acreage faster,” he said. He’s hoping all of the rules for use and legality issues are taken care of soon, so aerial drones can become a part of everyday farming.

Norwood said his greatest challenge right now in growing crops is efficient water delivery. “All of my soybean irrigation is furrow irrigated,” he said. He’s looking to improve water delivery with a new software program. Another program will help him improve fertility in his rice.

Norwood said his father is “pretty open” to all of the new technology. “He loves the auto-steer,” Norwood said, a big grin creasing his face. And who knows? There might be another generation of the Norwood family farming in the future with technology not even thought of yet. Terry and his wife, Wendy, have 7-year-old son Jordan who likes helping his father. “On one of the hottest days this summer, he was out there every step of the way stretching poly pipe with me,” Norwood said. The couple also has a 4-year-old daughter, Taylor.

Being involved with Farm Bureau at the county level is also a passion for Norwood. He’s presently in his fourth year as Greene County Farm Bureau president.

Community service is important to him. “My dad had been on the Farm Bureau county board for years. It’s also helped me a lot with my farming just by becoming acquainted with other farmers and learning how they do things,” Norwood said. “I’ve made some really good friends in Farm Bureau. It’s a great organization, and I’ve really enjoyed being county president.”

The Norwoods attend Eastside Baptist Church in Paragould. Wendy is a Sunday school teacher for kindergarten-age children, and Terry proudly said with a laugh, “I’m the substitute teacher.” On Sunday nights, he said, they help in the church nursery.

Terry Norwood is bullish on the future of farming, even with a growing world population that’s supposed to reach nine billion by 2050. “Farming can handle it. I don’t know what the picture of a farmer will be by then. It’s changed so much just since I’ve been farming,” he said.

“But we can feed people.”

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Growing for Tomorrow UAM Collegiate Farm Bureau

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n essential part of growing for tomorrow is growing future farm leaders in rural communities around the state. That’s a part of what Farm Bureau’s Collegiate Farm Bureau program is all about. The UA-Monticello chapter is one of the most active in the state. One of its faculty advisors is UAM Professor of Agriculture Bob Stark, PhD. Prof. Stark’s involvement with Arkansas Farm Bureau began in 1997 when he brought students to the Capitol to see the legislative process at work. “I met with Farm Bureau representatives when I took my Ag Policy class to the Capitol,” he said. The students got to meet with Farm Bureau’s Public Policy team. “We’ve been coming back ever since then,” Stark said.

Present chapter president John Erickson sees the value in the chapter’s association with the county Farm Bureaus in its area. “It helps us to be able to interact with the county Farm Bureaus. We make connections with people, which is always good for potential job opportunities. It also provides an outlet for us to be involved in the community,” Erickson said. This year, chapter members helped serve steak dinners to around 250 attendees of the Drew County Farm Bureau Annual Meeting. Erickson says Drew County Farm Bureau is a big supporter of the chapter, helping send students to the annual state Young Farmers & Ranchers conference among other things.

“It’s really taught me how to communicate with people,” said chapter member Justin Calhoun. “Participation in the discussion meets teaches you how to speak in front of people. Going to Farm Bureau meetings allows you to meet people in high positions. And you learn how to meet, greet and talk to them.”

Chapter member Morgan Calhoun also sees value in the association with Farm Bureau. “It’s definitely helping, like Dr. Stark taking his policy class to the Capitol, because that’s a big part of what Farm Bureau is all about,”

she said. “We got to talk about different bills they were trying to pass, so it helps to keep up with those things.”

Prof. Stark says it’s important for his students to learn and understand the policy process. “They will be making future policy. The students who we have today will be the agricultural producers and the ag industry leaders of tomorrow,” he said. “I think it’s important to learn how all of the system works together and the connections that are tied into it, and I strive to do that.

“I’m glad to hear the students talk about the importance of meeting people, because it’s all about person to person. And that’s one of the things we strive to do with Collegiate Farm Bureau.”

Prof. Stark says the UAM chapter members have visited Farm Bureau county meetings in several counties surrounding the university. “I think it’s good for the students to meet the people of the communities, the people who are current leaders, and to see how a farm organization processes through the concerns of its members.”

Most gratifying for Prof. Stark are the former UAM Collegiate Farm Bureau students who are now leaders in their communities. “The students get to talk with those people and see how they’ve advanced and branched out into different areas, as well as meet the lobbyists and policy staff for Farm Bureau and see how they work for the farmers and the farm industry.”

Prof. Stark has two signs taped above the door in his office. He says they remind him why he’s there every day. One states: “Pray for faith strong enough to be still while God works. Pray that you’ll hear the question when someone asks it.” And the other is the biblical verse from 3 John 4: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”

The joy is evident in his work with his students.

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2 0 1 5 B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R S

Randy Veach

Rich Hillman

Manila President

Troy Buck

Jon Carroll

Terry Dabbs

Sherry Felts

Caleb Plyler

Rusty Smith

Leo Sutterfield

Joe Thrash

Alpine District 7

Hope District 7

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Carlisle Vice President

Moro District 2

Des Arc District 2

Stuttgart District 6

Mountain View District 3

Joiner District 1

Toad Suck District 5

Joe Christian

Rodney Baker

Jonesboro Secretary-Treasurer District 1

Executive Vice President

Mike Freeze

Bruce Jackson

England District 6

Tom Jones

Lockesburg District 4

Gene Pharr

Pottsville District 5

Lincoln District 3

Ex Officio

Dan Wright Waldron District 4

Josh Cureton Jonesboro Chair, YF&R

Trent Dabbs

Stuttgart Vice Chair, YF&R

Janice Marsh

McCrory Chair, Women’s Committee

Peggy Miller

Lake Village Vice Chair, Women’s Committee

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2 0 1 5 A N N U A L R E P O R T

Words: Gregg Patterson Photos: Keith Sutton Design: Bryan Pistole

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