bringing the energy

A Farm Credit Midsouth Publication • Spring 2020

BringingThe Energy First-Of-Its-KindSolar Project In Our Backyard

Across The Midsouthis produced for members and friends of Farm Credit Midsouth.

Address comments and story ideas to Across The MidsouthFarm Credit MidsouthPO Box 16060 • Jonesboro, AR 72403 [email protected]

ContributorsJames McJunkinsMelissa PowellAmy RothenbuhlerMatthew Walton

FCMidsouth.com

Article quotes have been edited for content and appropriateness.

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In This Issue

Today’s Power ................................... 7

Get To Know Ralph ......................... 8

Kim Keirsey ....................................... 11

Celia Wooten .................................... 17

Christmas FunEmployees had some ugly Christ-mas sweater fun at the Farm Credit Midsouth Central Office in Para-gould. The sweaters may have been intended to be ugly but just look at that beautiful tree!

Misty Secrease, Sherry Smith, Crystal Threlkeld, and Mandy Beasley

FCM’s Chief Credit Officers – Past and Present – Ralph Stewart, Steve Lewis and Davy Crockett

On Friday, February 14, Farm Credit Midsouth family members past and present came together in celebration of the retirement of our long-time Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer (CCO) Davy Crockett. There’s a little bit of irony to the fact it was Valentine’s Day as the love for our colleague filled the afternoon.

Retiree Randy Kingston, Davy Crockettand FCM’s President and CEO James McJunkins

Davy Crockett began his career with Farm Credit nearly 37 years ago in 1983 as a loan officer train-ee in Jonesboro right out of col-lege. Three years later, in 1986, he accepted a position with the Farm Credit Bank of St. Louis working with high risk accounts for the District Bank. This is where Davy really honed his skills in the cred-it arena. It was a challenging time

in the eighties, and he learned on the job working through troubled assets. He thought he might hold that position for five years or so, but that quickly turned into 13. Afterward, he accepted the posi-tion of Vice President of Credit Reviews/Special Assets, finally becoming the association’s CCO in 2005 and the rest is, as they say, history. You don’t have to tell him twice that the opportunity to stay in one place for an entire career like that is a rare one. And it’s one for which he’s grateful.

As he reflects on his tenure with Farm Credit Midsouth, Davy de-scribes the cooperative as more of

Davy Crockett and Retiree Donna Martin

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND CCO RETIRES AFTER DECADES OF SERVICE

Not Good-Bye, Just See You Later

RETIREMENT • Continued on page 18

2 Across The Midsouth • Spring 2020

Farm Credit Midsouth is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gen-der, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty, or status as a protected veteran in accordance with applicable, federal, state and local laws.

In This Issue

Today’s Power ................................... 7

Get To Know Ralph ......................... 8

Kim Keirsey ....................................... 11

Celia Wooten .................................... 17

The bottom line is the more your Cooperative grows, the more it pays! On behalf of the entire Farm Credit Midsouth association, I ask all of our members to help us grow YOUR organization this year and in the years to come.

With thanks,

• We are a financial organization in the busi-ness of lending and providing financial services to our members—farmers and rural America!

• We are owned and run by our members—the farmers, ranchers, agribusinesses and rural homeowners in Eastern Arkansas. We currently have over 3500 members who annually elect the Nominating Committee (made up of farmers) and the 10 Directors (also made up of farmers.) These Farmer/Directors govern Farm Credit Midsouth es-tablishing policies, procedures, a strategic plan, and hiring a CEO to carry those out.

• Our members “share in the profits or benefits.” This year, we will pay out nearly $6.6 million in patronage to you, our members. This will be approximately 33 percent of the 2019 net earnings.

In short, we are owned by you (farmers), run by you (farmers), and we return profits and benefits to you (farmers). Since this is your Cooperative, you may ask what you can do to help it grow and be profitable.

1. Participate in the governance by nominating or electing the directors, or becoming one yourself.

2. Provide feedback to your directors, CEO or branch employees as to what we can do to better serve our members.

3. Do all of your business with your Cooperative.

4. Refer new members.

Membership Has Its Privileges!Letter from the CEO

This year has been a successful one for your Cooperative, despite the challenges in our farm economy. Our success can be attributed in part to Farm Credit Midsouth’s exceptional Board of Directors, management and employees, but most of all to the success of you, our members.

If you “Google” the definition of a cooperative you will find the following: “a farm, business or other organization which is owned and run jointly by its members, who share the profits or benefits.” Farm Credit Midsouth truly meets this definition on all counts.

James McJunkinsPresident & Chief Executive OfficerFarm Credit Midsouth

The Seedcast: Episode 007

Insider Interview: Farm Lending

With James McJunkins and Davy Crockett of Farm Credit Midsouth

Everything you’ve wanted to know about farm lending

but haven’t had the chance to ask. Armor Seed covered the

topic with our own, Farm Credit Midsouth’s James McJunkins and

Davy Crockett in an Armor SeedCast. Great content...you

don’t want to miss it!

To listen:iTunes: bit.ly/SeedCast007

SoundCloud: bit.ly/SCSeedCast007

3 Spring 2020 • Across The Midsouth

Financial SnapshotBusiness Results In Review

Business Results in Review YTD 12/31/2018 YTD 12/31/2019 $ Change %Change

Total Loans* (OOO) $ 916,260 $ 946,002 $ 29,742 3.2 %

Real Estate Loans (OOO) $ 526,974 $ 532,596 $ 5,622 1.1 %

Operating/Equipment (OOO) $ 389,286 $ 413,406 $ 24,120 6.2 %

New Money $ 164,311 $ 183,332 $ 19,021 11.6 %

Total Regulatory Capital (OOO) $ 205,703 $ 215,328 $ 9,624 4.7 %

Acceptable Credit Quality1 95.6 % 99.4 % 3.8% 4%

Return on Assets (ROA) 1.98 % 1.98 % 0% 0 %

Capital Ratio (TRC) 20.5 % 20.2 % – .03% 1.5 %

* Loans represented owned and managed by FCM. 1Acceptable Credit Quality is considered Acceptable/OAEM.

ASSOCIATION PROMOTIONS

GREG GIBSON We congratulate Greg Gibson on his recent Farm Credit Midsouth pro-motion to Senior Loan Officer in our Barton branch. We appreciate Greg’s hard work and dedication that earned him this pro-motion and consider him a valuable member of our team.

VICKI HOLCOMBE Extended congrat-ulations to Vicki Holcombe on her recent Farm Credit Midsouth pro-motion to Senior Loan Officer in our Barton branch. We appreciate the nearly 30 years of dedication to our members that earned her this pro-motion. Glad to have her experience on our side.

TROY MISNER Congrats to Troy Misner in our Osceola branch on his recent Farm Credit Midsouth promotion to Senior Loan Officer. Troy’s exceptional attitude and lending expertise earned him this promotion. We are very happy for Troy and the Osceola team.

DIANE STEILING Diane was recent-ly promotioned to Senior Vice President, Con-troller at Farm Credit Midsouth. She has played a key role in accounting and now is being rewarded for her role. We are happy for Diane and grateful for her hardwork for the Association.

For the latest news and events Across

The Midsouth as they occur, follow and get involved with Farm

Credit Midsouth on social media.


Left to right: Matt Knight, Dustin Henson, Keith Thomas, Michael Taylor, Mike Sullivan, Ramey Stiles, Dane Coomer - Vice Chair, Chris Roberts - Chair, Carl Loewer, Marion Fletcher, Gary Sitzer, Fred Cathcart, Franklin Fogleman

ABOUT FARM CREDIT MIDSOUTHFarm Credit Midsouth (a part of the Farm Credit system) is a federally-chartered cooperative providing over $1 billion in credit and related services to more than 3,500 agriculture producers and rural home owners in the State of Arkansas, the Counties of Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Greene, Lee, Mississippi, Phillips, Poinsett, and St. Francis, and that part of Desha County lying north of the Arkansas River. In the State of Missouri, the Counties of Carter, Ripley, and Wayne. In the State of Tennessee, that portion of the Counties of Shelby, Tipton, and Lauderdale west of the channel of the Mississippi River as it now flows.

6.6 Million Reasons It’s Good To Be A Member!

HOW YOU SPEND YOUR MONEY IS UP TO YOU.

Being a member of Farm Credit Midsouth has its advantages. In addition to access to competitive lending rates, qualifying members receive a Patronage Payout of the profits! Yes, it’s true. This February our members will receive $6,599,521.20 cash back to spend however they choose. That’s money that can be used for farm or home improvements, tires, paying down loans or even some fun money for a much deserved family vacation!

If you’ve ever considered doing business with Farm Cred-it Midsouth, we encourage you to visit with the folks at your local Farm Credit Midsouth branch about Patronage Payouts. We love talking about the topic and how it can benefit you. #weknowag


2020 Director Election Results

During the 2020 Farm Credit Midsouth Annual Stockholders’ Meeting held February 27, 2020 at the Ar-kansas State University FNB Arena, Bradley Wallace for Craighead County and Gary Sitzer for Poinsett County were each elected to a four year term.

We had another record year attendance with 113 voting stockholders, 6 non-voting and 29 guests for a total of 148 on a beautiful sunny day.

Dane Coomer was elected as our new Chair and Ramey Stiles was elected as Vice Chair. Coomer and Stiles will make appointments to Board Committees in March.

BRADLEY WALLACECraighead County | Region #14-year term

GARY SITZERPoinsett County | Region #24-year term

Nominating Committee Results

Region Committee Member Alternate #1 - Craighead Shannon D. Davis Drew H. Davis #2 - Poinsett Nathan Heath Wright Jerry Keith Reddmann #3 - Greene Michael Kevin Vowell Chad Allen Agee #4 - Clay (AR) Keith Alan Huckabay Clayton D. Catt Carter, Ripley, Wayne (MO) #5 - Mississippi Mark W. Fincher Dee Allison Henderson #6 - St. Francis Chad A. Halbert Ryan E. McGruder #7 - Crittenden Michael Louis Baioni John R. Wallace #8 - Lee Chad Cameron Glass Jeffrey D. Hickman #9 - Phillips Kaleb Lee Hall Weldon E. Jackson, 3rd #10 - Cross Christopher Alan Wood Melvin Keith Taylor

The following stockholders were also elected to serve for one year on the Farm Credit Midsouth Nominating Committee. This committee will be responsible for identifying, evaluating, and nominating director candidates for the 2021 election.


A first-of-its-kind project is un-der construction on 14.59 acres in Craighead County. Two Northeast Arkansas ag operations, along with Craighead Electric Coop-erative, have partnered with Today’s Power Inc. (TPI) to build a three-pronged farm solar ener-gy project in Jonesboro that will incorporate two different energy technologies along with battery storage capabilities. The project is projected to provide clean en-ergy for the two farming opera-tions for 20 years.

Southland Gin and Delta Farms, both of Lake City, are working to develop the project which will consist of three sys-tems: a 1.2 megawatt fixed-tilt

system, a single-axis tracking so-lar system, and a battery energy storage system. In total, the ener-gy project is expected to generate two megawatts between the two solar facilities, while the battery is projected to provide six mega-watt hours of storage.

If you have followed any of the Farm Credit Midsouth social me-dia platforms over the last couple of months, you may have caught a glimpse of the construction prog-ress as we’ve updated with photo-graphs from time to time. We’re thrilled to be able to stand behind this project providing the financ-ing for it under the guidance of Justin Griffin, Senior Loan Offi-cer in our Jonesboro branch.

FARM CREDIT:BRINGING THE ENERGYThis month’s financing spotlight shines on a partnership among Delta Farms, Inc., Southland Gin, Inc., Craighead Electric Cooperative Corporation, and Today’s Power, Inc. Farm Credit Midsouth is proud to be financing this ven-

ture to build two megawatts of dual technology solar with on-site battery storage right here in Northeast Arkansas.

TODAY’S POWER • Cover story continued on page 9

“Our members brought a well thought-out plan to the table,” Griffin said. “They put the work in on the front end, projecting the loan costs versus utility costs over the anticipated 15-year plus life- span of the project. It’s rea-sonable to believe energy costs won’t be going down in the next couple of decades. The plan basically hedges energy costs for the future.


Ralph Stewart took a less than direct path to his current position as Farm Credit Midsouth’s Ex-ecutive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer. But, if you visit with him for a bit, you begin to realize that’s not so surprising.

Ralph takes over for longtime Farm Credit Midsouth CCO Davy Crocket who retired this year af-ter more than three decades of service to Farm Credit. He hit the ground running last fall and hasn’t stopped since. Already serving as a CCO in the Farm Credit sys-tem—at Alabama Farm Credit for 10 years—eased the transition some. But Ralph is enjoying all that is new about this opportunity to work for a large, commercial as-sociation in Northeast Arkansas, which he calls “the bread basket of food production.”

“Being number one in rice pro-duction and number three in cotton production, we have the opportunity to feed and clothe the world from right here in Ar-kansas,” he says. “Beyond those, there’s diversity in crops with ev-erything from soybeans to corn to sweet potatoes to peanuts. It’s an admirable position to be in. The world can’t feed itself!”

Ralph grew up in McEwen, Tennessee (about 50 miles out of Nashville) in an area without much economic opportunity. Ralph was the first in his family to attend college. He got into agri-culture as an Ag Extension Agent for the University of Tennessee, even though his ultimate goal was attending law school. That position was where he embarked on an unusual path which led to being recruited by a Farm Credit association, ultimately earning his juris doctorate at Nashville School of Law and being groomed by a fantastic boss as a successful loan officer working his way up to—at the time—the youngest Region-al Vice President at Farm Credit MidAmerica. While some didn’t understand his decision not to practice law, he found his back-ground in law to be very comple-mentary to his lending role. From there he was recruited to Alabama Farm Credit as the association’s first Chief Credit Officer where he oversaw a transition from a $400 million cooperative to $1 billion cooperative over ten years. Ralph considers that achievement certainly one of the pillars of his career. And, as they say, the rest is history.

Aside from the professional ap-peal Ralph sees in Northeast Ar-kansas, the move also brought him a little closer to his children; Trey, who is a junior studying biochem-istry at Ole Miss, and Laura, who attends high school in Tennessee. The family considers itself to be genealogy, history and culinary buffs, so time spent together is always interesting. Outdoor pur-suits, hunting, fishing, gardening, cooking—they do it all.

Ralph will tell you “having kids and being in management are very similar.” Maybe that’s why his leadership style seems to cross over from home to office. He lov-ingly told a story about his kids refusing meatloaf once because they didn’t know what was in it. So, they rolled up their sleeves and broke down the process. They sourced the ingredients, mixed them together, cooked it and tasted it. The result? They liked meatloaf.

“You see?” he adds. “If you in-volve people in the recipe, they are more apt to accept what you’re feeding them.” Food for thought, for sure.

RALPH STEWARTExecutive Vice President, Chief Credit Officer

Get To Know...

FCM’s Mandy Beasley and Ralph Stewart prepare for the chili cookoff competition.


A Chili ReceptionSome of the perks of the new job for this culinary buff include events like this chili cook-off for which Ralph’s Farm Credit Midsouth team handily won The Peoples’ Choice Award using his unique chili recipe. Now you can make it for yourself at home since he’s sharing that secret recipe with us. Just don’t forget the fried cornbread!

Prairie Smoked Bison Chili for a Crowd

7 lbs. ground bison1/2 cup of olive oil6 diced large red onions4 ounces of freshly chopped garlic cloves14 hulled & diced fresh jalapeños4 diced red bell peppers

4 tablespoons of black pepper 4 tablespoons of garlic powderFive packets of McCormick’s slow cooked chili mix25 cups of water10 cups of tomato juice

7- 12 ounce cans crushed tomatoes 12 - 12 ounce cans of Hormel chili beans5 tablespoons of liquid smoke 4 tablespoons of chili powder 1 cup of Louisiana Hot Sauce1 cup of white vinegar

Brown ground bison on stove top and drain. Combine the cooked bi-son with remaining ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes. Cook on medium heat for 6 to 7 hours. This recipe makes approximately 10 gallons of chili. You will need to stir every 10 min-utes to avoid the chili burning on the bottom of the pot. Add addi-tional water as needed. Serve with fried cornbread.

TODAY’S POWER • Cover Story

TODAY’S POWER • Cover story continued on page 10

The Backstory

Delta Farms, Inc. originally ap- proached TPI for a solar analy-sis and Southland Gin later re-quested a similar analysis. The resulting project is aimed at providing benefits for both op-erations, as well as benefits for Craighead Electric Cooperative members. Any excess electricity generated will be net metered to Craighead Electric or saved in the battery storage. Craig-head Electric will be able to use electricity stored on the batter-ies during peak use periods.

“Our mission with solar has been to make a profitable and reliable investment,” said Len B. Nall with Delta Farms, Inc. “All the while reducing our car-bon footprint and environmen-tal impact.”

“To achieve a project of this size requires great vision, lead-ership and teamwork,” said Mi-chael Henderson, President of TPI. “Special recognition needs to be given Len Nall, along with Southland Gin’s Gregg Garner

and Ted Qualls, as well as Brian Duncan, CEO of Craighead Elec-tric Cooperative,” he added.

Delta Farms, Inc. will purchase and own the 1.2 megawatt fixed-tilt system, while TPI will own the single-axis tracking solar and battery energy stor-age systems and will operate both systems. The output of the 882-kilowatt tracking system will be leased to Southland Gin from TPI, which was made pos-sible through Act 464, passed this year by the Arkansas Gen-eral Assembly. When electricity generated by the arrays exceeds demand, the electricity will be net metered to the Craighead Electric system or saved in on-site battery storage systems. The batteries will enable Craig-head Electric to draw electricity stored in the batteries during peak use periods instead of having to purchase electricity to meet demand. It’s a win-win all around.

Several were on hand to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Jonesboro solar farm.


As a Farm Credit Midsouth Loan Officer for more than seven years, Brandon Brewer is well versed on the association’s lending process and the workload of the average loan officer. Putting his ag equipment background and loan officer experience to work, and simultaneously streamlining the Farm Credit Midsouth lending experience, he feels will be beneficial.

Brewer transitioned to a new role as Farm Credit Midsouth’s first Col-lateral Evaluator last November. The new position was created to relieve some of the workload of the FCM loan officers, enabling them to spend more time with their customers.

“The Collateral Evaluator role is a new one for us,” said Farm Credit Midsouth Senior Vice President, Chief Appraisal Officer Cary Matthews. Filling the position with Brewer, he added “made for a natural fit with his experience as a loan officer and experience in the ag equipment industry.”

BRANDON BREWERCollateral EvaluatorCentral Office

FCM GROWS: New Position Created to Enhance Lending Experience for Customers and Staff

TODAY’S POWER • Cover Story

Will other ag entities follow suit and make solar energy part of their future? Griffin thinks so. “More people are looking into it,” he notes. “Es-pecially those with large grain facilities and the like. It is re-ally dependent on the kind of operation, location and their energy demands.”

As is clear in the accompany-ing photos, construction is well underway on the project. It is set to be complete this spring with operation beginning short- ly after completion. n


Believe it or not Kim Keirsey is one of the newer team members at the Farm Credit Midsouth Barton branch. Still, she marked her first day on the job some 20 years ago.

Kim is a Customer Credit Rep-resentative. She spent years pro-cessing loans, but more recently moved to the credit side of things which she is enjoying. Her main goal in her current position is to provide strong support for the lending team. And her coworkers

would tell you she goes above and beyond to do just that. In a typical day, she is running reports, taking care of customers, providing loan document and insurance support, and fielding incoming calls.

Kim says it’s easy to explain why folks stick around for such a long time at Farm Credit Midsouth, but even more specifically in the Barton branch. When she was first hired, she only knew agriculture as an observer growing up in an agricultural community. She had worked in banking for nine years prior, and she took the job par-tially out of convenience and par-tially because she had heard good things about Farm Credit.

“First of all, the work environ-ment is great,” Kim says. “From the people I work with to the op-portunities presented to us, just great all around. Of course, the benefits are really good, too.”

When asked what make custom-ers continue to choose Farm Cred-it, she believes it is because the Farm Credit team may be more open to all they can offer their customers and how they can bet-ter their lives overall. They’d like to be a one-stop shop for all of the members’ banking, lending and insurance needs.

Kim lives in West Helena, Ar-kansas where she was raised and has been married to Lee for 32 years. Her two daughters Britta-ny and Hanah live nearby with their families, which gives Kim the pleasure of spending lots of quality time with her three sweet grandchildren.

Kim also has plans to stick around Farm Credit Midsouth until she is ready to retire. We consider ourselves fortunate she—and the entire Barton team—have had a longstanding and trusted presence in that area. n

20 Years Later...

With Customer Credit Representative Kim Keirsey, Barton

KIM KEIRSEYCustomer Credit Representative, Barton Branch

Assigning values to an applicant’s collateral is an important part of the loan application process, giving a lend-er the basis for which to extend credit. It can become complicated and time-consuming as it requires in-person observation—often at multiple sites—and a good bit of research. The addition of this new position not only frees up the loan officer to be focused on customers and new business, but also maintains consistency in evaluation with Brewer handling evaluation for all major loan applications across the cooperative. An indirect benefit is the compilation of detailed information that the customer receives.

Brewer has enjoyed the transition and, while there has been some adjustment to his new role, his previous experience on both ends of the spectrum have provided for a level of comfort with the change.

“I spent years in ag equipment sales, both wholesale and retail,” he notes. “Then spent seven years not just as a loan officer, but working as part of the Farm Credit Midsouth lending team. Having the perspective from both sides has prepared me well for this job.” n


FCM’s Cary Matthews, Melissa Powell, Melissa Coles, Amy Privett, Ralph Stewart, Mandy Beasley and Mark Martin.

THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE

Spicy Financing

FCM’s Spicy Financing Team-brought home The People’s Choice Award with their unique bison chili recipe at a local chili cookoff. They served many crockpots of the tasty concoction on a beautiful evening full of food and entertainment. At FCM, we know ag... and apparently chili, too!

FIELD TRIP

Wilson Brothers SawmillFarm Credit Midsouth team mem-bers were honored to receive a thorough tour of Wilson Brothers Sawmill in Rison to learn more about their operation. The visit was great and the group enjoyed a BBQ lunch together.

Along with AgHeritage Farm Credit and Farm Credit of Western Arkansas representing Farm Credit Midsouth are Ralph Stewart, Chief Credit Officer; Daniel Pieroni, Senior Lending Officer; Allyson Baugh, Credit Analyst; and Michael Clayman, Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer.

FUTURE FARMERS OF AMERICA

Midsouth Supports FFA

Each year Farm Credit Midsouth pres-ents donations on behalf of our mem-bers who have designated funds when making a qualifying term/equipment loan. We’re pleased to share another of this year’s recipients, Greene Coun-ty Tech FFA, Paragould FFA, Corn-ing FFA, Marmaduke FFA and Rector FFA. Thankful for your dedication to youth in ag!

FCM Senior Loan Officer, Jacob Hester, presents donation to Greene County Tech FFA.


Halloween at FCM! All FCM branches welcomed very special Halloween guests, all cos-tumed up and ready to trick-or-treat. Cuties one and all.

Jace, son of Farm Credit Midsouth customers Mark and Kristy Henderson, visits the Osceola branch on patrol.

Follow Us On Social Media • #FCMSearch Farm Credit Midsouth

THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE

Spicy FinancingFOOD BANK OF NORTHEAST ARKANSAS

We were pleased to support this year’s Acre of Hope event at the Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas uniting farmers to fight hunger. For every $1 donated to the food bank we can provide 4 meals to a person in need! 1 in 4 Arkansans struggle with hunger.

FCM Senior Loan Officer, Jacob Hester, presents donation to Paragould FFA.FCM VP, Branch Manager, Patrick H. Lenderman, presents donation to Corning FFA.

FCM’s Kim Keirsey, Vicki Holcombe and Lee Petty with Easton, Kim’s grandson; Anderson, son of FCM customers Chad and Kyleigh Glass; and Lily and Parker, grandkids of Director Ramey and Kerry Stiles.

FCM employee and food bank volunteer Allyson Baugh and member Jennifer Martin.

Rules are rules. Everyone wore a costume. Loved these FCM “customers” who opted for ‘tricks’ as they

tagged along for a #Halloween visit with their humans, Greyson and Barbara Sanders, their

daughter Samantha Hess and the Hutton kids


MIRACLE LEAGUE

Play Ball!

Check out this awesome photo from the Miracle League baseball game. Andrew and Rebecca, son and wife of FCM’s Daniel Pieroni, look like they had a blast. Farm Credit Midsouth is proud to be a sponsor of the Miracle League!

ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU CONVENTION

Representing FCM to Arkansas Farmers

We were so pleased to attend the Arkansas Farm Bureau Conven-tion in Little Rock. Caught several FCM members walking the trade show floor and had the opportu-nity to catch up.

Farm Credit Midsouth, along with AgHeritage and Farm Credit of Western Arkansas, was proud to sponsor the 2020 Arkansas Agriculture Aviation Association and Trade Show in Little Rock.

Farm Credit Midsouth’s Mylo Ball

MEMBER DESIGNATED FUNDS

4-H SupportWe are always pleased to share another in another year’s worth of Farm Credit Midsouth 4-H donations on behalf of our mem-bers who have designated funds when making a qualifying term/equipment loan.

Andrew and Rebecca Pieroni

Submit your best farm-ing and rural living pic-tures of the Midsouth! Submit up to three pho-tos before the submis-sion deadline. Enter the photo contest by upload-ing your photos.

FCM’s Jacob Hester presenting donation to Crowley’s Ridge 4-H.

Manning the Farm Credit Associations of Arkansas booth with FCM’s Michael Clayman were AgHeritage

Farm Credit’s Seth Speight and Farm Credit of Western Arkansas’s Kevin Barkham

farmcreditmidsouth.com/news/photo-contest


FCM CONTINUES TO GROW

Team Building

ALLYSON BAUGH joins The Farm Credit Midsouth team as a Cred-it Analyst. A Jonesboro native raised on a family farm, Allyson has experience as a Grain Origination Specialist and has interned in agrifi-nance and in the legislative offices of both Representative Rick Crawford and Senator John Boozman. Ally-son holds a Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness from Arkansas State University.

ANNALISA MEREDITH joined Farm Credit Midsouth as a Customer Service Representative in the Jonesboro branch. A graduate of Arkansas State University with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business, AnnaLisa regularly volun-teers at community events and was a recent speaker at the 2019 USA Rice Outlook Conference.

PHISHING WARNING

Fradulent Emails About W-2 Forms

One way identity thieves may try to trick you is with a W-2 phishing scam. Their aim is to acquire sensitive information from your W-2s so they can leverage it to commit identity fraud. You may receive an email asking you to click on a link, provide personal information, or send a file. Don’t fall victim to these scams.

What is Phishing? Phishing is when you get emails, texts, or calls that seem to be from companies or peo-ple you know. But they’re actually from scammers. They want you to click on a link or give personal infor-mation (like a password) so that they can steal your money or identity, and maybe get access to your computer.

The Bait. Scammers use familiar company names or pretend to be someone you know. They ask you to click on a link or give passwords or bank account numbers. If you click on the link, they can install programs that lock you out of your computer and can steal your personal informa-tion. They pressure you to act now – or something bad will happen.

Avoid the Hook. Do NOT click on a link! Check it out. Look up the web-site or phone number for the com-pany or person who’s contacting you. Call that company or person di-rectly. Use a number you know to be correct not the number in the email or text. Tell them about the message you got.

Look for Scam Tip-Offs. You don’t have an account with the company. The message is missing your name or uses bad grammar and spelling. The person asks for personal infor-mation, including passwords. But note: some phishing schemes are sophisticated and look very real, so check it out and protect yourself.

Protect Yourself. Keep your comput-er security up to date and back up your data often. Consider multi-fac-tor authentification – a second step to verity who you are, like a text with a code – for accounts that sup-port it. Change any compromised passwords right away and don’t use them for any other accounts.

Report Phishing. Forward phishing emails to [email protected] and [email protected]. Report it to the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint.

ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU CONVENTION

Representing FCM to Arkansas Farmers


WELCOME TO THE FCM FAMILY

New AdditionWe welcome our newest mem-ber of the Farm Credit Mid-south family. Miss Wrynlie Raye belongs to Osceola Senior Loan Officer Troy Misner. She made her grand entrance in late August. Wrynlie joins her two big sisters, Joie Beth and Millie. Congratulations to Troy and his wife, Jennifer, on this sweet ad-dition to their family.

T H E B I O S TA R

The BioStar logo was designed to portray Farm Credit as a strong, unified national network ready to meet the challenges of a

changing and competitive financial industry.

Developed in the spring of 1985, the BioStar was

released as the logo that still identifies the nation Farm

Credit System today.

The BioStar is a symbol of progress and commitment

consisting of five visual elements: three leaves, a

root system and a star. The leaves represent the three

types of lending done by the Farm Credit System long-term, intermediate-term

and short-term. The roots symbolize our cooperative structure and our long his-

tory of grassroots support of rural America, and the star

represents vibrancy and direction. Finally, the brilliant green color

represents the nature of our stockholders’ business:

to grow, produce and harvest food and fiber.

Farm Credit Midsouth is very proud to be a part of

the Farm Credit System and to utilize the BioStar in our logo. It represents progress

and our commitment to you, our stockholders, as we strive for excellence. Thank

you for choosing Farm Credit Midsouth and

contributing to our success!

AMERICAN SOCIETY OF FARM MANAGERS AND RURAL APPRAISERS

Richmond Earns Accredited Status

Congratulations to FCM’s Bessie Huff Richmond who has achieved Ac-credited Rural Appraiser status from the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers (ASFMRA). Earned through a combi-nation of experience, education and a rigorous written examination, the designation places Bessie among a select 45% of the ASFMRA member-ship. Bessie’s dedication to her profession and our members is appreciated by the entire FCM team!


For this issue, we had the plea-sure of chatting with Farm Credit Midsouth Senior Customer Ser-vice Specialist Celia Wooten, a longtime employee in the Barton branch.

Wooten has logged 25 years of service with Farm Credit Mid-south, holding her current role for just under a year. When asked to describe a typical day in the office, Celia hesitated—probably because no day is typical. Her re-sponsibilities are broad and var-ied, and include fielding phone calls from other branches about crop insurance quoting, options, corrections and the retrieving of insurance information. She also coordinates acreage/production reports and claims, prepares in-surance quotes, and serves as a crop/life insurance ‘agent’ for Farm Credit customers.

That last role comes with a bit of a story; one that Celia really didn’t expect to live out. You see to carry out her role, she had to earn and maintain a ‘life license.’ She was apprehensive at first but encouraged to do so by her supe-riors, and is now able to handle insurance issues and serves as licensed support for Farm Credit Midsouth Insurance Coordinator Kim Lamb.

There is not much turnover at the Barton branch, making for a work family that has stuck to-gether over the years. Celia says the reason for such longevity is simple: it’s a great place to work.

“I work with great people,” she notes. “We have the BEST boss and fantastic benefits. Everyone here knows his or her role and works well together. In fact, we’re so committed we don’t even end up using all of our leave time each year.”

Celia grew up in Marianna, Ar-kansas and has been married to her husband Robert for 44 years. The couple has two children, both of whom now have families of their own but reside in the state. She spends her free time follow-ing her grandchildren as they participate in baseball and dance competitions. The family also en-joys cheering for and tailgating at Razorback events, which is clear from the accompanying photo she provided for us.

Celia fully intends to finish out her career and retire as a Farm Credit employee. We are fortu-nate to be on the receiving end of her dedication and thankful she is both a friend and coworker! n

In Step With

Celia Wooten

CELIA WOOTENSenior Customer Service SpecialistBarton Branch


a family than a job. It’s clear he takes a great deal of pride still to-day in spending the entirety of his career here.

“I am just as proud to come in today as I was the very first day I walked in into the office,” he says. “I can’t say enough about it.”

Davy holds both a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture and a Mas-ter of Science in Agriculture from Arkansas State University. He is a past board member of the Jones-boro Jaycees and a past alderman for the city of Jonesboro. Davy is a co-founder and was a coach for the Jonesboro Shooting Stars Youth Trap Team. Will he draw on those interests or others as he embarks on retirement?

Davy suggests he may do some consulting work, maybe even for Farm Credit, which he would wel-come. There may be some oppor-tunities for collections or credit review work. One thing he’s look-ing forward to is setting his own schedule. We’d say that’s well-de-served.

“Not too many people look back and say they wish they’d worked longer,” he added.

Something tells us this isn’t chapter two for Davy. If we had to guess, we’d say he’ll be writing a whole new book. Here’s to making it a page-turner, Davy!

Kerrie Dixon gives on Giving Tuesday at FCM.

FCM CARES

Giving TuesdayWith the help of several members, Farm Credit Mid-south used Giving Tuesday as a way to raise funds for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital and Ag For Autism. Together over $1,100 was given to worthy these organi-zations. In return for a $10 donation, members and em-ployees were given a free FCM tshirt. Thanks to all those who participated.

In an effort to create youth interest in agriculture, students across the Midsouth were encouraged to color a harvest drawing. In return, each student who participated received a FCM backpack and had their art-work displayed on Farm Credit Mid-south social media. Several individ-ual children as well as many entire classrooms in several school dis-tricts participated in the effort.

CELEBRATING AGRICULTURE

Local Students Color Harvest Pictures

Barton-Lexa second-graders received Farm Credit Midsouth backpacks for the coloring page entries.

RETIREMENT • Continued from page 2


Youth • 3rd PlaceBuster PassmoreGreene CountyThe Great Pumpkin of Greene County

Adult • 2nd PlaceJenna MartinCross County • Sunset Rice Harvest

Adult • 3rd PlaceJenna MartinCross County • Corn Harvest

Grand PrizeWhitney SiebertGreene CountyMcMillion Farms

Adult • 1st PlaceElena Hill Clay CountyRise and Shine

Youth • 2nd PlaceAnnabelle ChandlerMississippi CountyOn The Turnrow

Youth • 1st PlaceAnnabelle ChandlerMississippi CountyHigh Cotton

RETIREMENT • Continued from page 2

Fall Photo Contest WinnersFourty-three photos were submitted for our most recent photo contest. We were delighted to view photographs representing what we love about agriculture and rural living. Congratulations to the winners.


Barton Branch870-572-99006216 Hwy 49Poplar Grove AR 72374

Corning Branch870-857-3541600 W ElmCorning AR 72422

Jonesboro Branch870-932-28173000 Prosperity DrJonesboro AR 72404

Marion Branch870-739-6275151 Block StMarion AR 72364

Osceola Branch870-563-26764389 W Keiser AveOsceola AR 72370

Paragould Branch870-236-85251312 Hwy 135 NParagould AR 72450

Wynne Branch870-238-22111674 S Falls BlvdWynne AR 72396

PRSRT STDUS Postage

PAIDJonesboro, ARPermit No. 267

Central Office870-932-2288PO Box 16060Jonesboro AR 72403

When it comes to lenders, we know there are a number of options and choosing one can seem overwhelming. But consider this: if you want to know in whom your lender is most interested, simply follow the money.

Do the lender’s earnings or dividends go to a small group of owners? Do they go to a foreign entity? Or maybe they go to a group of Wall Street investors? Where does your lender place its priorities? The answer to that is very telling.

We follow a cooperative model at Farm Credit Midsouth. Our dividends are returned to you each and every Feb-ruary in the form of patronage. Our members are our owners. So, if you take the above advice and follow the money, well, it ends up right back at your very own door. And that makes all the difference.

The Board of Directors determines annu-ally whether or not a portion of our earn-ings is returned to members based on

t h e amount of profits. With the continued growth of the organization and the on-going success of its all-cash patronage payout, Farm Credit Midsouth hopes to give back even more during 2020.

THE COOPERATIVE ADVANTAGE

Follow The Money.

bringing the energy

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