Carolina Farm Credit recently completed the 12th annual Ag Leadership Institute and the 3rd session of the Ag Biz planner. These opportunities are offered to young, beginning, small, and minority farmers throughout our territory. Here are some details about each program:

Ag Leadership Institute

The Ag Leadership Institute was held at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC brings together and celebrates young, beginning, small and minority farmers. It was created to equip these farmers to meet the challenges of modern agriculture and encourages the sharing of ideas and networking within the industry.

We had a very diverse and extremely hard working group this year. It was evident from their participation and interaction throughout the weekend that this group has a passion for agriculture and is committed to ensuring education remains an integral part of their future. Their dedication to learning renews my faith in the future of North Carolina Agriculture. Additionally, the relationships established within the group will hopefully provide opportunities to network with each other and collaborate to be more successful on their individual farms. At Carolina Farm Credit, we are committed to providing educational opportunities for young, beginning, small and minority farmers that will ensure the future success of North Carolina Agriculture and allow us to stay connected with our customers.

Attendees of the 2012 Ag Leadership conference were:

John & Pamela Ashe, Reidsville, NC
Steve & Nichole Carpenter, Wadesboro, NC
Ryan & Julie Davis, Randleman, NC
Richard & Keshia Enoch, Burlington, NC
Lynn & Kara Goforth, Max Meadows, VA
Bonnie Griffin & Butch Howell, Monroe, N
Gene & Becky Howell, Sparta, NC
Matt & Mary Love, Pilot Mountain, NC
Jonathan Massey, Burlington, NC
Mark & Barbara Pickens, Murphy, NC
Andy & Sarah Powers, Lansing, NC
Jane Rankin, Banner Elk, NC
Bo & Wendy Sellers, Concord, NC
Paul & Mandy Shelton, Olin, NC
Charles & Leatrice Tatum, Mocksville, NC
Der Xiong, Newton, NC





Ag Biz Planner

The Ag Biz Planner program is a college-level, online course in Farm Credit University (FCU). This was the third session of the program and was a collective effort of five farm credit institutions in NC, VA, WVA and MD.

Carolina Farm Credit participants were assigned a loan officer to serve as their mentor throughout the course. Highlights of the program include modules that cover business and personal financial planning, understanding income statements, cash flow, and the smart use of credit on the farm. Each participant completed a business plan for their operation and concluded the class with a conference in Raleigh led by Dr. David Kohl.

The seven Ag Biz Planner Carolina Farm Credit participants were:

Cobey Abramowski & Bryan Abramowski , Rowan County
Mentor: James Taylor, VP -Commecrial Officer, Statesville

Gerry Cohn, Alamance County
Mentor: Bill Miller, Loan Officer, Graham

Patricia Dial, Richmond County
Mentor: Patrick Chappell, Loan Officer, Ellerbe

Adam & Jada Henson, Haywood County
Mentor: Donna Silvers, Loan Officer, Waynesville

Lisa & Larry Hoke, Caldwell County
Mentor: Jill Sigmon, Loan Officer, Lenoir & Newton

Gary Purgason, Rockingham County
Mentor: Jim Webb, Loan Officer, Reidsville

Gwen & Tim Stowe, Gaston County
Mentor: Roger Davidson, Loan Officer, Lincolnton

2011, while challenging in many ways, was another successful year for Carolina Farm Credit. Although our annual report which will be published next month will have all the details, I am pleased to report that our final net earnings exceeded $20 million and will again allow us to meet our goal of returning 20 cents of every dollar you contribute to our earnings, in the form of a patronage refund. We are happy to be in a position to return the majority of our earnings to you and continue to “Put our profits in your pockets”. We thank you for utilizing our products and allowing us to serve your financial needs, which in turn allows us to be profitable, return a portion of those profits to you and therefore continue to create value for your ownership in Carolina Farm Credit.

Just as you look forward to and plan for another successful year in 2012, we are planning for and are excited about what this year has in store for our association. We see opportunities to grow our business and membership in the coming year, and as always, ask for your help by recommending Carolina Farm Credit to your friends, family and neighbors. No amount of advertising can ever accomplish what satisfied customers can do by helping spread the word and telling our story.

We are looking forward to holding Customer Appreciation Events in all service center offices again during the month of April. This gives us an opportunity to deliver your patronage check and tell you face-to-face just how much we appreciate your business and our relationship with you. Be on the lookout for your invitation to arrive in the mail and mark the date on your calendar. We will be looking for you at your local customer appreciation event. Remember, without you, neither Carolina Farm Credit or these Customer appreciation events will be successful.

As winter quickly approaches, we begin to reflect on 2011 and work toward finalizing our business planning process for 2012.

2011 has brought many challenges to our customers as many continue to be affected by the slow recovery of our general economy. The local economy in our territory is generally intermingled with influences from the agriculture, industrial, retail and housing industries. The economic factor that has had the most impact on many of our customers has been the soft real estate market. As you know, for the majority of our customers, their most valuable asset is their farm or home. Additionally, many have invested in rural real estate in recent years. As income and cash flows have continued to be adversely affected by the slow economy, those who typically would liquidate real estate assets to strengthen their financial condition, have been unable to do so because of the soft market. As a result, we continue to work with many customers to help them through this difficult time. While we all would love to see signs of significant improvement in the overall economy, there are no such signs evident on the horizon. I recently heard the CEO of the Farm Credit System Funding Corporation speak and he indicated that from an economic recovery standpoint, we as a nation may still be in the 4th inning of a 9 inning game. If that is the case, we have several years of slow growth ahead. We pledge to continue to work hard to provide the needed products and services to help you work through these tough economic times.

On a sad note, our Carolina farm Credit family lost an extraordinary leader, strong supporter, and a true friend on October 2, 2011 when Director Bobby Joe Gambill passed away after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Bobby Joe loved people and was always willing to help others. He served our membership well as a director for over 15 years and his leadership and presence will be truly missed in our boardroom.

I am pleased to report that our Board has appointed Susie J. Gambill to fill the vacant seat on our Board created by her husband’s passing. In addition to her involvement in the family farming operation, Susie serves as the Clerk of Court in Alleghany County. She has a bachelor’s degree in Business and Education from Appalachian State University and is very involved in the local and agriculture community. Susie is a capable leader who will serve our membership well and we welcome her to the Board.

Hopefully, you had a chance to attend the customer appreciation event that was held during October in your local service center. It is always good to visit with our members and even better when we can hand deliver allocated surplus checks and “Put Our Profits In Your Pockets.” We look forward to visiting with you as we hold another round of customer appreciation events in the spring.

Labels: Dec 2011

As we approach the fall of the year and the full swing of harvest, we also get a glimpse of cooler nights and lower humidity. The heat of summer, while very necessary for our crops to grow, does make it much easier to appreciate the cooler temperatures that arrive with fall and the changing color of the leaves. It takes all seasons to complete the lifecycle which is the foundation for most everything in Agriculture.

This time of year also brings us to another director election cycle at Carolina Farm Credit. The fundamental difference between Carolina Farm Credit and other financial institutions is that we operate as a true cooperative. As such, we are owned by the same people who use our services and we return the majority of our profits each year to our members in the form of a patronage refund.

On September 20, we completed the 2011 director election by mail after receiving 533 ballots. All incumbent directors were re-elected to serve a five year term: Bobby "Bud" J. Matthews, Yadkin County; Thomas E. Porter, Jr., Cabarrus County; and Clark M. Newlin, Alamance County.

This year, there were only three seats on the board up for election. In accordance with our bylaws and a board reduction plan, as board members vacate their seat in the future, those seats will be eliminated until the plan is final. The final plan calls for a board of 14 directors made up of 12 directors elected by the membership and two outside directors appointed by the board, all of which will serve 5 year terms.

Directors R. Dwayne Myers and Charles L. “Butch” Deal have made the decision to retire from the board after many years of service to Carolina Farm Credit and its membership. Mr. Deal is a Grain, Tobacco, Beef Cattle, Vegetable and Fruit Farmer from Macon County and has served on the board for over 19 years. Mr. Myers is a Dairy Farmer from Wilkes County and has served on the board for over 35 years. These gentlemen have served your Association faithfully during a very critical period in Farm Credit’s history. They are true statesmen who have always put your interests first when making decisions. While we understand their decision, we acknowledge that their knowledge and experience will be greatly missed in our boardroom. I would like to personally thank both Mr. Myers and Mr. Deal for their service to Carolina Farm Credit and the positive impact they have had on our organization.

During the month of October, we will again hold fall customer appreciation events in each of our 36 service centers. Please be looking for your invitation to your local customer appreciation event to arrive in the mail. We will be serving good food, good fellowship and most importantly we will be distributing surplus allocated checks. This highlights why borrowing from a cooperative makes economic sense and is our way of saying “Thanks” for doing business with Carolina Farm Credit.

We continue to use our customer service surveys to give you an opportunity to tell us how satisfied you are with the level of service we are providing. Our goal is to provide service that exceeds your expectations. There is always room for improvement in any organization. However, the only way we will know where improvement is needed is by you completing the survey and returning it for our records. Please take a few minutes to complete the surveys when you receive them in the mail. Thus far in 2011 we have received almost 600 surveys with an average score on all responses of 4.72 out of a 5.0 possible score. We are very pleased that you feel this way about the service that we provide. I am very aware that it is our dedicated staff that is responsible for developing our relationship with you and making these results possible. When our staff goes out of the way to provide you with excellent service, please take a minute to let them know. Nothing goes as far as a simple pat on the back to generate more excitement and energy to provide even better service in the future. Thank you for allowing us to serve your credit needs. We will look forward to seeing you at our fall customer appreciation events.

In no other industry or place can we recognize spring more than in agriculture and rural America. From trees blooming, grass getting greener, time changing and days getting longer and folks scurrying around their farms making preparations for planting; everything in rural America says springtime is here. One of the most intriguing aspects of agriculture is the opportunity to be involved throughout the entire life cycle. We prepare, plant, nurture, harvest, and then we have springtime and start all over again. So it is with farming, so it is with business, and so it is with life.

At Carolina Farm Credit, just as on your farm, we have closed out 2010 and started our process all over again to ensure your financial needs are being met. I hope you have had a chance to review our recently published 2010 Annual Report. We had another very successful year and again, your Board of Directors declared a patronage refund which was paid in April. We exceeded our goal of returning 20 cents on every dollar you paid in interest as our 2010 patronage refund represents 23.5 cents of each dollar of interest.

Additionally, we held Customer Appreciation Events (CAE) in each of our 36 service centers during April to distribute patronage checks and say thank you for your business. We hope you enjoy the CAEs as much as we do. It’s always nice to sit and visit with members that we don’t see on a daily basis, especially since we consider our customers as friends and family.

In March, we completed our 11th annual Agricultural Leadership Institute in Asheville. This year we hosted 17 young, beginning, small, or minority farm couples for a weekend of education which is designed to better enable them to be successful in agriculture and establish relationships with other similar producers across our territory. We have also just completed our second year of the Ag Biz Planner program. This program involved 11 young, beginning, small, or minority farm couples and provided additional education to include the actual preparation of a business plan for each operation. I continue to be impressed with the quality of the individuals who are involved in agriculture and attend these programs. It is very rewarding to have the opportunity to invest in the future of NC agriculture by investing in the lives of these folks. Each year I come away more convinced than ever that the future of agriculture, in our area, is in good hands.



Ag Biz Planner participants and mentors



Dr. David Kohl at Ag Leadership



Ag Leadership participants



2010 was another very successful year for Carolina Farm Credit (CFC). On behalf of our Board of Directors and staff, I would like to say thank you for the contributions you have made to our success. Without members who are committed to use our products and services, and who continue to recommend CFC to friends, neighbors and family, we could never be as successful as we have been.

As a cooperative, we strive to provide value for your ownership in Carolina Farm Credit. To this end, your Board has again approved the payment of a patronage refund on 2010 earnings. Our expectation is to exceed our goal of returning $.20 on every dollar of interest that accrued on your loan in 2010. This marks the 23rd consecutive year that our operating results have allowed and your Board has approved payment of a patronage refund, therefore living up to our motto of “We put our profits in your pockets”. Watch for your invitation in the mail and please join us at your local customer appreciation event in April to pick up your patronage refund check and enjoy good food and fellowship as our way of saying thanks for your business.

We continue to be challenged to provide a high level of service and operate more efficiently in today’s environment. We are constantly looking for ways to gain efficiencies and control cost just as you are on your farm. As a result of issues affecting both our Reidsville and Greensboro service centers and in an effort to gain efficiencies and better utilize our human resources; effective March 31, 2011, we will close our Greensboro service center and consolidate it into our Reidsville service center. We will immediately begin searching for a suitable location, as close to halfway as possible between these two locations, to purchase land and construct a new service center building to serve our Guilford and Rockingham County customers.

We appreciate the business of our members in both of these counties and the relationships we have built over the many years we have provided service in these locations. We continue to be committed to providing quality service that exceeds your expectations and comfortable and convenient offices in which you can conduct your business. We believe that when our new service center is complete you will have a service center that you will be proud of.

Local Control


Carolina Farm Credit’s director elections are now underway. Please look for your ballot to arrive in the mail and take the time to mark your ballot and return it as instructed. Carolina Farm Credit is a cooperative and your vote ensures the direction of our association is controlled by local farmers from communities just like yours.

Allocated Surplus Revolvement

I am very pleased to report that our Board has once again approved the revolvement of Allocated Surplus for this fall in the amount of $7.6 million. This revolvement will include both Qualified and Non-Qualified Allocated Surplus; therefore, it will be paid in two separate checks. We take our patronage program seriously, and therefore, are committed to living our motto “We Put Our Profits in Your Pockets!”

Because our Board members are farmers that live and operate within your local communities, they understand that many of our members continue to be impacted by the sluggish economy. Therefore, after determining that the association is adequately capitalized, they understand the importance of returning cash now when many of you need it more than ever.

Fall Customer Appreciation Events

The Board has also approved the reinstatement of Fall Customer Appreciation Events (CAEs) this October in each of our 37 service centers. Be looking for your invitation in the mail and hopefully you can arrange to attend your local CAE. Good food – Good fellowship – Pick up a couple checks…just a few good reasons to do business with Carolina Farm Credit. I look forward to visiting with as many of you as possible during the October CAEs.