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.