farm and land
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STORY AND PHOTOS BY SALLY SCHOLLE | BRIAN BOYD GREW UP ON A FARM IN LEBANON, PENNSYLVANIA, WHERE
HIS PARENTS GREW SMALL GRAINS AND OPERATED A SEED AND FERTILIZER BUSINESS. BRIAN’S LIFE-LONG
ERS APPEAR
EXPERIENCE IN THE AG WORLD AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT PROVIDED THE BASIS FOR ONE OF MIDATLANTIC FARM CREDIT.
LEAD
“By the time I was of age, our family farm was an agribusiness,” says Brian, explaining his ag background. “I started working at a feed mill when I was 17; sweeping floors and mixing feed, then drove a truck, and was mill manager the last five years I was there.” Although Brian is now retired from that industry, he gained valuable knowledge and numerous connections in the ag community. Brian put up his first poultry house in 2009 and now has four houses on two properties, raising broilers for Bell and Evans. Brian raises about one million birds every year with no employees, relying on help from his wife Amy and the two eldest of their six children. Through his custom planting enterprise, Brian puts about 2,000 acres of crops in the ground each spring. He also operates an ag commodity trucking business, which helps keep him in touch with a larger ag circle. Brian says the Farm Credit Board of Directors is diverse and represents a wide range of ag enterprises, including dairy, poultry, vegetables, crops, agribusiness, and agritourism. During his initial months on the board, Brian recalls not knowing a lot about how the board functioned or his role. However, he quickly learned how Farm Credit serves its members and how he could contribute. Now in his ninth year on the board, Brian is serving as Vice Chairman. Brian’s
long-time association with the farm community allows him to pick up on attitudes, moods, spending habits, optimism, and pessimism; all of which help him serve the board and members. Brian says serving on the board is an interesting challenge, and describes himself as someone who thinks outside the box. “Because of the custom work and raising poultry, I’m connected to the industry,” he says. “I know how it feels on the ground.” A position on the Farm Credit board means a commitment to monthly meetings, some local and others that require travel. “Trainings are held throughout the United States, which provides an opportunity to meet other leadership,” says Brian, adding that he has acquired valuable people skills. “Through networking, we can see how others work with their CEOs and their associations. Discussing land prices with those in other areas provides good perspective and comparison. We can talk about their citrus farm or cotton farm – it’s incredible to see ag technology throughout the country.” Brian’s experience meeting with farmers from different states has given him a broader outlook on agriculture. “I bring that information back to my farm and community,” he says. “Things are changing, and there’s more awareness about what’s going on nationally and globally.”
HIS MOST IMPORTANT VOLUNTEER ROLES TODAY: VICE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR
in many forms FORGETTABL E AN UN
When Brian started serving on the board, he was 37 and loaded with debt as he grew his operation. “I knew how it felt, and how well Farm Credit treated me,” he says. “As the youngest board member, I am excited to continue diversifying the age range of our board in the future to cover the experiences of multiple generations and incorporate more thoughts about technology and new trends,” says Brian. While Amy sometimes accompanies Brian on national board trips, he says she learns more about their own farm when he’s away. “I might have to walk her through a problem over the phone,” says Brian. “My family sees what I go through in the middle of a cold night when the alarm goes off.” In addition to serving on the Board of Directors, Brian is a member of Farm Bureau, serves on the South Lebanon Township Land Preservation Committee, is active as a church elder, and hosts church youth in a spacious, inviting section of his farm shop. Brian says serving on the board is a serious responsibility, and leaving his farm for several days at a time to attend meetings can be challenging. However, he has found that part of being a good manager of his own farm is being able to leave it. “First I trained, then delegated,” he says. “Now I can walk away and say to my wife or my son, ‘I trust you—you can do it.’” l
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| VOLUME 24 | ISSUE 1 | mafc.com
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