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83rd Annual Membership Meeting Highlights 2019’s Challenges and Triumphs
BY MARY CATHERINE GASTON
AFC President and Chief Executive Officer Rivers Myres put all of 2019’s ups and downs into perspective as he began his report.
“It’s true that 2019 was one of our most challenging years yet, but we were prepared because of our focused efforts as a team,” Myres said. “We rose above the challenges, accomplished our goals, and I am confident in our strategy for success.”
Myres went on to assert his belief that AFC has “the right people in the right places, and we’re doing the right thing.” A good business plan, he said, is nothing without the people to make it happen.
Following his report, Myres presented the 2019 President’s Award to 22 Cooperative store managers who finished the year with positive local earnings and net margin to sales equal to or greater than 1.5 percent.
Thomas Hallin, AFC’s Chief Financial Officer, set the tone as he opened the meeting with the 2019 financial report. “Although 2019 was a challenging year, AFC’s financial position continues to be one of enormous strength,” Hallin said. “In fact, 2019 may prove to be one of the most financially successful years for AFC yet.”
Each division’s 2019 challenges and triumphs were highlighted in video reports from division leaders. Bonnie Plants lost distribution at Walmart and Home Depot stores. However, Bonnie’s Chief Executive Officer Mike Sutterer explained that the division’s leadership took the opportunity to look at every aspect of the business and focus on improving for 2020. As a result, Sutterer explained, new initiatives are in place, and Bonnie regained its market at all Home Depot stores nationwide for 2020.
While flooding on major U.S. river systems wreaked havoc on grain transport in 2019, AFC’s Grain Division managed to finish the year with a net profit and complete construction of a new bin in Guntersville that increases storage capacity by 150,000 bushels.
Another division that triumphed in spite of adversity in 2019 was the Frank Currie Gin. Late season rain resulted in a difficult harvest and the ginning of more wet cotton than Ron Bailey has seen since he assumed leadership of the operation in 2001. To add insult to injury, a fire in a seed warehouse resulted in additional losses. Still, the Gin topped its 2018 sales by over $1 million and ginned 7,500 more bales of cotton than in the previous year.
A difficult labor market, increased imports and an onerous regulatory environment made it apparent to the leaders of SouthFresh that operation of its Eutaw catfish processing plant was no longer sustainable. Though SouthFresh stepped out of the processing business, a third party stepped in to lease the facility and retained all 170 employees with no transitional downtime and no lapse of service to the region’s catfish farmers. SouthFresh will continue its feed mill operations and looks forward to promising new ventures, particularly in equine nutrition.
While challenges abounded in 2019, Agri-AFC Chief Operating Officer Chris Casey reported that 2019 was one of the division’s most successful years to date. With a profit of $390 million last year, Agri-AFC was able to provide 84 percent of patronage distributed to AFC member cooperatives and bring online a 24-hour, manless fertilizer terminal, simultaneously increasing efficiency and decreasing loading times at the Decatur location.
Following the business meeting, Board of Directors Chairman David Womack reiterated the sentiment he had expressed in his report to the members.
“The staff and leadership of this organization continue to amaze me,” Womack said, referring to his experience as board chairman over the past two years. “When you boil it all down, this is farmers working for farmers to make us all more productive and more prosperous.”
Rivers Myres presented the 2019 President’s Award to 22 Cooperative store managers.
A native of Fort Deposit, Alabama, Mary Catherine Gaston is a freelance writer based in Americus, Georgia.
