2007 Annual report for Arkansas Farm Bureau

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lead•er•ship (le d r ship ), n., 1. the position or function of a leader. 2. ability to lead. 3. an act or instance of leading.

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2007

Annual Report

Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation

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2007 Annual Report Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation

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Editor: Steve Eddington Photography: James Groves Pat Patterson

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table of contents

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President’s Report

Executive Vice President’s Report

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Board of Directors

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Designer: Chris Wilson Design Consultant: Bryan Pistole, Image Works Media, Inc.

“Leadership Defined” Sue Billiot James Widner Keith Shepherd David Hendrix Bart Turner 1

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There is a willingness and acceptance of leadership roles by Farm Bureau leaders because they realize they can make a difference for Arkansas agriculture and for the communities in which they serve.”

have been fortunate to encounter many leaders in my more than half-century on this earth. Some were well known, with a political or social platform from which to lead and a charisma that surrounded them as they went about working for the betterment of others.

Still other leaders I have known have been behind the scenes, content to lead without attention being focused on them.

I’ve seen leaders command the attention of very large crowds, and I’ve seen a leader embrace one individual and pull that person from the depths of a difficult situation.

Day by day, leadership takes on many forms, though each example of true leadership begins with a willingness to serve others. Jesus Christ summed up leadership best when he said in Matthew 23:11, “He that is greatest among you shall be your servant.”

That commitment to others is the philosophy of so tanley many of our members throughout the state of Arkansas and across the country. There is a eed willingness and acceptance of leadership roles

by Farm Bureau leaders because they realize they can make a difference for Arkansas agriculture and for the communities in which they serve.

It is fitting that Leadership Defined is the theme for this year’s State Convention.

Farm Bureau volunteer leaders demonstrate leadership in a collective way that keeps our organization at the top of any discussion about the most effective advocacy organizations in our state.

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President’s Report In the past year, the leadership of the Farm Bureau members – and the staff members who support them – was evident in a number of ways, not the least of which was a successful General Assembly that provided agriculture with some exciting opportunities.

Among the more significant successes of the legislative session were: • Incentives for biofuels production (Act 873, Petrus and Act 699, Thompson); • Change of Diesel tax to a .06 cent per gallon rate (Act 87, Thyer); • Retention on productive use assessment (Act 994, Petrus); • Deeper funding for the Arkansas Department of Agriculture (Act 1242, Joint Budget); • Poultry litter transportation incentive (Act 532, Sullivan); • Creation of the Arkansas Milk Stabilization Board (Act 754, Hoyt).

Farm Bureau’s leadership was also evident with our coordination of a pair of carbon credit trading conferences to provide education and information on the economic incentives of capturing carbon through land management activities.

Another activity that demonstrated Farm Bureau’s leadership was a coordinated effort to educate the general public about the impact of agriculture on our state’s economy through a series of broadcasts that were carried by KATV, Channel 7. Many of Arkansas’ leading commodities, farmers and agricultural agencies were involved in telling agriculture’s story through this series of broadcasts.

As you look at Farm Bureau, our work over the past year, and the consistent efforts of our volunteer leaders, I hope you see as clearly as I that Arkansas Farm Bureau is, indeed, a testament to Leadership Defined.

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Executive Vice President’s Report

rkansas Farm Bureau’s membership continues to account for roughly one-fourth of Arkansas’ population, a humbling thought for someone guiding a membership organization. Farm Bureau’s membership – 227,383 families – makes us the largest membership organization in the state. I think it is telling that our membership renewal percentage, 92.56 percent, was the highest since 2002. Clearly, Farm Bureau members are happy with the direction of the organization when they renew their membership at such a level.

I applaud, once again, the efforts of the 76 county organizations that collectively make up Arkansas Farm Bureau, and the volunteer leaders who provide direction for those county organizations. It is their actions, their leadership, and their commitment, that make Arkansas Farm Bureau the successful organization that it is today.

The Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation remains a healthy organization, financially. For the 2007 fiscal year, gross revenue exceeded $9.7 million, with an increase in service fees from Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield and, as interest rates have risen, an increase in interest and dividends on our investment portfolio that contributed the most to the gain in revenue over last year.

While in 2005 the accounting standards required a fair market value adjustment of more than $300,000 for an unrealized loss on our investments, those same standards allowed us to recoup a portion of that loss last year with a $30,000 unrealized gain and another $9,000 unrealized gain this year. Our investment portfolio continues to be structured mostly with fixed income securities that provide a steady income stream.

Our operating expenses for the year were $8.7 million. The current-year expenses for our pension and other post-retirement benefit plans were under our budgeted amount by $325,000, because of the increase in the discount rate used in the valuations of these programs as of Sept. 30, 2007.

The result of our growth in revenue and reduction of expenses increased our net assets by over one million dollars before taxes. With income tax expense of $166,500, our increase in net assets before other adjustments is $890,000.

Last year I reported that the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued a new statement, FASB No. 158, which would affect our financial statement this year. After adopting FASB No. 158, the adjustment of the funded status of our pension plan required a reduction of net assets of $1.256 million on our balance sheet.

On the other hand, the adjustment to present the funded status of our other post-retirement benefit plans was an increase in net assets of $626,000, for a combined reduction of net assets of $630,000. Our original estimate of these adjustments of $1.5 million was reduced by the increase in the discount rate as mentioned earlier.

Just three years ago we endured a valuation decrease adjustment on these plans in excess of $700,000. Interest rate increases have benefited our plan valuations.

With our income from operations after taxes and the required FASB No. 158 adjustment, the net assets of Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation increased in excess of $260,000.

In this space last year, I noted that our organization represents a grassroots movement unlike any other in our state, and I am humbled to be a part of that. Certainly that still applies.

I ask for your continued commitment to service and involvement in Farm Bureau and other worthwhile endeavors. It is because of you – our volunteer leaders – that Arkansas Farm Bureau stands ready and willing to move forward with our efforts on behalf of Arkansas’ farmers and ranchers.

Ewell Welch

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hile the definition of leadership is as flexible as the number of people who demonstrate it, leadership – when boiled down to its basic element – is a willingness to serve. From that standpoint, Farm Bureau’s county, state and local leaders are an example of Leadership Defined.

Thousands of men and women make up the working body of Arkansas Farm Bureau, filling out county boards, commodity divisions, and board committees; all repositories for leaders committed to making Arkansas agriculture a success, while improving the communities in which these leaders call home.

Those who lead Arkansas Farm Bureau willingly give of their time to impact our communities in ways beyond the considerable boundaries of agriculture. They donate their time and talents to influence and improve the day-to-day situations that make Arkansas communities thrive. Farm Bureau leaders are the people in your community who make things happen.

On the following pages, you will see a few of the Farm Bureau leaders who give of themselves so communities across our state can become better places for all to call home.

As you review this annual report, think of the leaders in your hometown, and resolve to thank them for their efforts on your behalf. Look at the leaders of your county Farm Bureau, and see the leaders of your community.

Arkansas Farm Bureau’s leaders are an example, indeed, of Leadership Defined.

Leadership Defined

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leadership in the community

Sue Billiot Founder, Director, Vice President, Board Member, Secretary/Treasurer

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ue Billiot (pronounced Bell-ott) remembers well the day she and husband Ken moved to Arkansas from their native Louisiana – Aug. 17, 1995, she recalls, “the day after we sent our son off to college.

“We used to visit friends up here, and we always said it would be a nice place to live. That day was a good day for us. We’ve loved every minute of it since we moved” to rural Sharp County, outside of Poughkeepsie.

Billiot brought with her a sense of duty. She’s a board member of the Independence County United Way and Batesville Help and Hope, Inc., a member of the Hardy Garden Club, the founder of the Poughkeepsie Volunteer Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary, a board member of the Sharp County Fair, and the director of the Sharp County Fair Pageant.

Billiot also is assistant vice president at First Southern Bank in Batesville, and assists Ken on their farm, which previously housed a poultry and beef cattle operation. The couple is currently researching opportunities for a purebred cattle operation.

“I’ve always just wanted to help people,” Billiot says. “I got that from my parents. They were very caring, and I saw the way they dealt with other people. I guess that sense of caring for people, wanting to help, just grew out of what I learned from watching them.”

Her commitment to Batesville Help and Hope, and other United Way projects in the community, are a natural fit for Billiot. Help and Hope provides food and clothing at no charge to those in need.

“Just about everyone needs some help at one time or another,” Billiot says. “We’ve got quite a bit of factory work in this area, and when one of the factories goes through a layoff, we can sure tell a difference, because there are a lot of people who come in needing food for their families.”

Aug. 17, 1995, moving day, was a good day for Sue Billiot. It was also a day that affected north-central Arkansas in a positive way.

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leadership in Farm Bureau

Sue Billiot State Women’s Committee

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ue Billiot insisted on being part of the Sharp County Farm Bureau board soon after being asked to serve as Women’s Committee chairman for the county.

“I was the first woman who demanded to be on the board,” Billiot says with a chuckle, her Cajun accent barely blunted by a dozen years of living in the Natural State. “You know, I thought, ‘if you are going to be on the Women’s Committee, you need to know what is going on with the county board.’ We’ve got to work together, and I am glad to say that the rest of the board has been very supportive of what we are trying to do with our Women’s Committee.”

Billiot, a member of the state Women’s Committee, has a passion for teaching school-age children about the source of the nation’s food, fiber, and fuel.

“A lot of kids do not know where their agricultural products come from,” she says. “I worked at the Farm Bureau booth at the Arkansas State Fair, where we had the life-size plastic cow for the children to ‘milk.’ Some of those kids didn’t even know that milk comes from a cow. In their minds, they think it comes from Wal-Mart or Kroger.

“They think a hamburger comes from Sonic. When you tell them the meat for a hamburger comes from a cow, they’re like ‘no way!’

“They didn’t know that cotton was used to make tshirts and blue jeans.

“Our school children need to know these sorts of things, and we are working to educate these children about agriculture through our Ag-in-the-Classroom efforts.

“If children in rural communities in Arkansas don’t know where their ag products come from, how confused must the kids in New York City be?!”

If Sue Billiot, and Farm Bureau leaders like her, have anything to do with it, Arkansas’ school children will have ample opportunity to learn the source of the nation’s food, fiber, and fuel.

“If children in rural communities in Arkansas don’t know where their ag products come from, how confused must the kids in New York City be?!”

Leadership Defined Farm Bureau/Agri.

Board Member, Sharp Co. FB (2002-present) Women’s Committee Chairperson, Sharp Co. FB (2000-present) State Women’s Committee (2007-present) Board Member and Secretary/Treasurer, Independence/Jackson Co. Cattlemen’s Association (2003-present) Member, Arkansas Cattlewomen’s Association

Community Board Member, Independence Co. United Way (2005-present) Communications Chairperson, Independence Co. United Way (2006-present) Executive Secretary, Independence Co. United Way (2007-present) Board Member and Treasurer, Batesville Help & Hope (2000-present) Member, Hardy Garden Club Pageant Director, Sharp Co. Fair (2003-present) Founder and Vice President, Ladies Auxillary-Poughkeepsie Volunteer Fire Department

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leadership in the community

James Widner Justice of the Peace, Chairman,

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Conservationist, Advisor, Director

ames Widner has a dry wit about him, and is particularly keen at poking fun at himself.

But he gets intensely serious when he discusses conservation issues, and their connection to agriculture.

“Agriculture, that’s all about conservation,” says Widner, a poultry and cattle farmer from Harrison. “God gave us this earth to live on and take care of. It’s up to us to make it last as long as it will.

“I don’t look at that from a political perspective, like global warming and all that. I don’t believe in exaggerating anything. I believe things ought to be used for their best purpose. But at the same time, I believe those things ought to be preserved.”

Widner’s conservation perspective is one honed through practical experience. He’s served on the Boone County Conservation District for the past 10 years, and has been the group’s chairman since 2000. He’s also spent five years as area chairman for the Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts.

Additionally, he is involved in numerous community activities, including past chairman of the Westark Production Credit Association, the Boone County Quorum Court, the Boone County Republican Committee and the Hometown Health Coalition.

He finds time for these volunteer activities while sharing responsibility, along with his son, for 10 poultry houses and roughly 100 head of cattle.

“I’m involved in so many things that I don’t really do justice to any of them,” Widner says. “I’m not a real in-depth person, anyway. I just like hitting the high spots.”

His self-deprecation aside, Widner is a community leader who sees his commitment to the community, and conservation, as serious business.

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leadership in Farm Bureau

James Widner Past President, Boone County Farm Bureau

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ames Widner used leadership in Farm Bureau as a springboard into deeper community involvement.

“I was involved in Farm Bureau before I was involved in anything else,” says Widner, who served three terms as president of Boone County Farm Bureau (1986, ’87, ’91) as well as three years as vice president. “I think involvement in Farm Bureau leads you into leadership in other areas.

“Farm Bureau helps you develop a basic interest in things that matter. Farm Bureau encourages participation in other things, or at least it certainly did for me.”

Widner tries to bring Farm Bureau’s grassroots feel to other groups, whether it is the Boone County Quorum Court or a Conservation District meeting.

“Our policy development process is the foundation of Farm Bureau’s success,” Widner says. “When you get input from the grass roots – and I know that term is used a lot, but that is what it is – it generally results in policy that is sound and reasonable.

“At Farm Bureau, the people determine our positions on public policy issues. The ability to get to that consensus is what I try to bring to other groups I am involved with. Farm Bureau is where I learned how to build that consensus, and it all starts by getting input from as many different people as possible.”

Widner says his agricultural background has influenced his work on community boards.

“The things I am most interested in, generally, are conservation related,” he says. “Most farmers and ranchers I know are the same way.

“There is a direct connection between my work with Farm Bureau and the work I do with the Conservation District. So many of the decisions made about conservation issues are made in the political arena.

“And from my perspective, that’s where Farm Bureau ties it all together.”

Leadership Defined

Farm Bureau/Agri.

Board Member, Boone Co. FB (1981-present) • Executive Committee • Poultry Committee • Annual Meeting Committee • Membership Committee President, Boone Co. FB (1986, 1987, 1991) Vice President, Boone Co. FB (1982-84) Boone Co. Farm Family of the Year (1985) Boone Co. Cooperative Extension Service Advisory Board (1984-present) Boone Co. Cattleman’s Association (1986-2006) Congressman John Boozman’s Agricultural Advisory Committee

Community Board of Directors, Westark Production Credit Association (1986-95) Past Chairman, Westark Production Credit Association Boone Co. Quorom Court (1999-present) • Building and Grounds Committee • Solid Waste/Recycling Committee • Law Enforcement Committee • Roads and Bridges Committee • Budget and Finance Committee Boone Co. Republican Committee (1999-present) Boone Co. Conservation District (1998-present) Chairman, Boone County Conservation District (2000-present) Area Chairman, Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts (2001-02, 2004-07) Hometown Health Coalition

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leadership in the community

Keith Shepherd Coach, Vice President, Board Member, Treasurer, President

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eith Shepherd used to drive by the youth sports fields in Star City without giving them a second glance, unaware of the firm grip they would one day have on him.

Today, when he drives by those same fields, Shepherd is fully indoctrinated with the mission of youth sports. As president of the Star City Youth Athletic Program – which he calls the “envy of Southeast Arkansas” – Shepherd influences hundreds of school-age children each year through the youth football and baseball programs he helps coordinate and coach.

“We interact with so many kids who we wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to know,” says Shepherd, a vice president at Pine Bluff National Bank’s Star City branch.

“When you are involved in something like this, you understand it’s all about the kids. So many of them don’t have many positive things going on, so we step in and try to provide that for them.

“The whole key is to instill some goals and teamwork – teach them to work together. I believe we are doing that with our youth sports programs.”

Shepherd is not one to sit still. In addition to his duties at the bank, he also maintains a sizable cattle herd and, until recently, managed several chicken houses.

“My son plays baseball and football; my daughter is one of the pee-wee football cheerleaders; and my wife helps with the cheerleaders, so that’s how I justify it in my mind,” he says. “Really, though, working with these kids can be real time consuming.

“A lot of times I’ve got to just drop what I’m doing so I can move on to the next thing. My farm suffers because of that. I’m late baling hay every year because we’re playing baseball, or I have to take a vacation day to finish some work on the farm, because I’ve spent three straight Saturdays with the football team.

“You have to be a little crazy to do this, because you give up so much of yourself. But somebody’s got to step in and do it. That’s what happened with me. I didn’t go looking for these jobs or responsibilities. They just fell my way.

“But you’ve got to do it, for the kids’ sake. They’re the ones who make it all worthwhile.”

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leadership in Farm Bureau

Keith Shepherd President, Lincoln County Farm Bureau

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eith Shepherd was raised on a row-crop farm in Grady, but moved “to town” when he was a high school senior. He’s concerned that his family, like so many others, is getting farther and farther away from the farm.

As president of Lincoln County Farm Bureau, he is working to promote agricultural understanding throughout the county, through ag-focused curriculum and the return of ag education in the secondary schools.

“I grew up on a row crop farm as a kid, but now I’m removed from that,” Shepherd said. “When my son was young, we had a poultry farm, but we sold our chicken houses and moved to another home, so now he’s removed from that setting.

“It bothers me that our society is moving away from its deep roots of agriculture. As a whole, the people in our community – and everywhere, really – are having diminished roles in agriculture.”

As a director and coach of the youth sports programs in Star City, Shepherd is involved with children almost on a daily basis, many who have no understanding of the scope of agriculture in their community.

“A lot of the kids we play baseball or football with, or we interact with at school and church, they don’t have a clue what it’s like to live on a farm or be part of a farming family – even though they live in a rural community,” Shepherd says.

“I want to see Farm Bureau continue to push agricultural awareness. We’ve got to make sure these kids know where our food and fiber comes from, where that chicken comes from and how it gets on the dinner table.

“They need to know what it’s like to work in a hayfield, or work in the poultry farm, or work on that row crop farm.

We’re just getting so far removed from that. We don’t have a big Ag-in-the-Classroom effort in our county right now, but we’ve been trying to work with the school district and inch our way into that.

“We want the young folks in our community to understand the impact farming has on our local economy, to our state’s economy, and to understand the work and effort that goes into producing our agricultural commodities.”

“It bothers me that our society is moving away from its deep roots of agriculture.”

Leadership Defined

Farm Bureau /Agri.

President, Lincoln Co. FB (2004-present) Board Member, Lincoln Co. FB (2000-present)

Community President, Star City Youth Athletic Association (2007) Board Member and Football Coach, Star City Youth Athletic Association (2004-present) Treasurer, Star City Men’s Club (2005-present) Member and Baseball Coach, Star City Men’s Club (2002-present) Board Member, Southeast Arkansas Cornerstone Coalition Member, Star City Chamber of Commerce • Stardaze Annual Spring Festival Committee

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leadership in the community

David Hendrix Councilman, Deacon, Teacher, School Board Member

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avid Hendrix understands the bulk of community involvement is accomplished by a handful of individuals with a serving spirit, and he’s happy to be part of the giving crowd.

“You hear all the time that 10 percent of the people do 90 percent of the work, and I believe in a lot of cases that’s true,” says Hendrix. “Those 10 percenters are making the community go, the church go, the ball programs go, and they make the schools go. They are the same old guys and girls who are leaders on the quorum court, the water board, the hospital board; all the community functions that depend on volunteers.

“There are a lot of people out there who will do something once they get asked. You can go to them and say ‘would you be responsible for thus and such?’ and they’ll take it and run with it. But they have to be asked. The ones who will step up without being asked are the ones who really make things go.”

Hendrix has shown to be the type who steps up without being asked.

He’s been a member of the Antoine City Council since 1990, served four years on the Delight School Board, is on the board of directors at the Bank of Delight and is a deacon and adult Bible class teacher at his church.

“I guess you can go back to the old argument of nature vs. nurture, but I suspect that service attitude is pretty much a learned behavior,” Hendrix says. “I think you learn a lot of that from your parents. You see them serving, and you learn to serve. You can learn a lot by observing others, and, there again, I think I’ve learned a lot from my parents, my grandparents, on how to do things, or how not to do certain things.

“There’s a definite mindset that you see in people who give of their time. They are service-oriented people. They aren’t going to be the kind sitting down being waiting on; they’re up waiting on other people, serving other people and doing whatever the occasion requires.”

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leadership in Farm Bureau

David Hendrix Past President, Pike County Farm Bureau

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avid Hendrix sees his service to Farm Bureau much like any other community involvement, as an opportunity to serve.

“Farm Bureau is a service organization of rural people – not just those who consider themselves to be farmers, but rural people serving one another in order to improve the quality of their lives,” says Hendrix. He has served on the Pike County Farm Bureau board since 1988, including 14 years as president (1992-2005). “The biggest reason to be involved in Farm Bureau is to serve.”

Hendrix’s family has timber holdings that he helps manage, though the family previously had a row-crop operation on their Southwest Arkansas property, so involvement with Farm Bureau is a natural extension for him.

“The old saying that there is strength in numbers certainly applies to Farm Bureau,” he says. “It is kind of an enlightened self interest in that you do good things through Farm Bureau, and you serve in that way, but yet, Farm Bureau is something that you get something back from.

“There are a lot of things you do where you might not get a tangible result from, and that’s okay. It’s also okay to get a tangible result in return. The way I see it, Farm Bureau has helped me in my business. I’ve made a lot of contacts that are good for me. Just this summer, Farm Bureau sponsored a Carbon Credit Conference, where we learned all about carbon credit trading.

That information is putting money in my pocket.”

Farm Bureau’s legislative heft is another thing that impresses Hendrix.

“One thing we do very well is lobby the state Legislature,” he says. “The reason we do it well is because we’re credible.

We don’t go up there and tell a bunch of stories. We’ve got our facts together when we go ask them to do something for us. We provide good information that helps those legislators make good decisions.

“It’s a long-term relationship that is built up. And as long as we uphold our end of the bargain, I think we’ll continue to be able to have a good influence on the political structure of the state of Arkansas.”

“The old saying that there is strength in numbers, certainly applies to Farm Bureau. It is kind of an enlightened self interest in that you do good things through Farm Bureau, and you serve in that way, but yet, Farm Bureau is something that you get something back from.”

Leadership Defined

Farm Bureau/Agri.

President, Pike Co. FB (1992-2005) Board of Directors, Pike Co. FB (1988-present) Pike Co. Farm Family of the Year (1995)

Community Antoine City Council (1990 to present) Delight School Board (1993-96) Board of Directors, Bank of Delight Deacon and Adult Bible Class Teacher, Delight Church of Christ

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leadership in the community

Bart Turner Chairman, School Board Member, Foundation Board Member, Chamber Leader

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art Turner says he’d just as well be a follower as a leader. It’s just that others keep turning to him to lead, and he’s not one to decline an invitation.

“I am more comfortable being a follower than a leader, to tell you the truth,” says Turner. “I just see myself as somebody who is ready to serve, if I feel like I can contribute. I don’t mind doing what’s needed. I don’t mind being involved.

“If being involved is your definition of leader, okay consider me a leader. But to me, I’m just someone who is willing to help out. To be part of an organization, you do not have to lead. Sometimes you just have to be part of the body of work.”

Turner’s body of work speaks volumes in Crittenden County. He has twice been chairman of the Crittenden Regional Hospital board of directors, on which he’s served a total of 13 years. He’s currently serving a four-year term on the St. Francis Levee Board, is a past member of the Marion School Board, is on the MidSouth Community College Foundation Board, a member of the Marion Chamber of Commerce, and is leading the finance committee at his church that is undergoing an aggressive expansion.

“I just feel like the community has given me so much, whatever little bit I give back, it will never be enough,” Turner says. “If I can help in any way to better the community, I just feel like it’s an obligation that we all have, and I take it on freely and with the idea of making this a better place to live.

“Being involved in the community is fairly easy for me, because that’s just the way I feel. My church home, our love for our town, the hospital, the community college, all that, it’s there; it’s part of me.

“It’s easy in the sense that I’m comfortable being involved. There are times when you are stretched thin and you have more obligations on the farm than you have time to adequately do your other community services. But all in all, it’s a worthy endeavor.”

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leadership in Farm Bureau

Bart Turner Past President, Crittenden County Farm Bureau

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art Turner kicks himself over not being more involved with Farm Bureau at an earlier age.

“I didn’t really get active until later on in my adult life,” says Turner, who raises soybeans, rice, cotton and wheat on 3,500 acres in Crittenden County. “I’m active now, though, and I love it. I only wish I had been more involved in Farm Bureau earlier on.

“Maybe this is self-serving, but Farm Bureau does an awful lot of good. I am amazed at the statewide clout it has, the organization it has and the impact it has on so many different levels.”

Turner is past president of Crittenden County Farm Bureau, and is currently a member of the State Rural Health & Safety Committee. He has come to value the relationships he has formed through Farm Bureau, and has seen first-hand the impact the organization has.

“Farm Bureau is very well organized – and because of that we are listened to by so many people – from our legislators to local leaders, other ag-related organizations and membership groups. That says a lot to me. When you can command that type of respect, from such a cross-section of people, then you are doing something right.”

Turner believes Farm Bureau’s policy development process helps set it on the right path. The grassroots nature of the policy positions – pushed up from the various county Farm Bureaus, though a deliberation process and ultimately voted on by delegates at the state convention – is what separates the organization from those that make decisions at the top and then push them down throughout the organization.

“Farm Bureau policy is not something we just pull out of the air,” he says. “We go to those (policy development) meetings, we discuss our positions, we hash it out. We have differences of opinion on some things, of course, but the bottom line is that when we come out of our policy development process, it’s something the Farm Bureau membership has discussed, feels strongly about and supports.”

“ ... Farm Bureau does an awful lot of good.

I am amazed at the statewide clout it has, the organization it has and the impact it has on so many different levels.”

Leadership Defined

Farm Bureau/Agri.

President, Crittenden Co. FB (2005-06) State Rural Health & Safety Committee (present)

Community Finance Committee Chairman, Marion United Methodist Church (2005-present) Board Member, Crittenden Regional Hospital Board (1993-98) Chairman, Crittenden Regional Hospital Board (1998) Board Member, Crittenden Regional Hospital Foundation Board (present) St. Francis Levee Board School Board Member, Marion School District (1993-2003) Board Member, MidSouth Community College Foundation Board (present) Member, Marion Chamber of Commerce

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Board of Directors

Front Row (from left): Susan Anglin, Bentonville; Ewell Welch, Executive Vice President, North Little Rock; Stanley Reed, President, Marianna; Randy Veach, Vice President, Manila; John Andrews, Secretary/Treasurer, Walnut Ridge; Denelda Michaelis, Goodwin.

Middle Row: Richard Armstrong, Ozark; Billy Sharp, War Eagle; Troy Buck, Alpine; Tom Jones, Pottsville; Dennis Ritchie, Nashville; Rich Hillman, Carlisle; Terry Dabbs, Stuttgart.

Back Row: Allen Stewart, Mena; Rusty Smith, Des Arc; Johnny Loftin, El Dorado; Dow Brantley, England; Jeremy Allen, Bismarck; Leo Sutterfield, Mountain View; Todd Allen, West Memphis; Joe Christian, Jonesboro.

Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation 10720 Kanis Road Little Rock, AR 72211 www.arfb.com