Arkansas Beginning Farmer Learns Ropes of Cattle Business

Posted on July 20, 2018 by cassiebable

McKenzie Fanning grew up with the dream of becoming a cattleman. He started his operation with an FSA youth loan and continues to utilize FSA farm loans to build his business.

By Nicole Gurley, Farm Loan Officer, Washington County, Arkansas

McKenzie Fanning grew up in Westfork, Arkansas, with the dream of becoming a cattleman. Although the 21-year old wasn’t raised on a farm, he had memories of his grandparent’s farm, including the time when he made a trade with his grandfather: a pig for a heifer, opening his path to the cattle business.

He started saving his money from doing chores and after some time he was able to purchase another heifer. At just 15, Fanning came to the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) and was able to obtain a loan which he used to purchase three cow/calf pairs that he kept on his grandfather’s land.

“FSA has 100 percent allowed me to start my dream,” Fanning said. “I want to run my cattle operation like a business.” Continue reading →

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Lead your FSA – Wyoming Rancher Uses Role on Committee to Promote Agriculture

Posted on July 19, 2018 by cassiebable

Amy Miller of Wheatland, Wyoming, returned to her family’s ranch after receiving a degree in accounting from the University of Wyoming. She serves on the Platte County FSA Committee.

By Dana Rogge, Public Affairs Specialist

A True Family Business
Amy Miller of Wheatland, Wyoming, always knew she’d be working on her family’s ranch. The ranch, established by her grandfather in the 1940s, is a true family business. Miller works alongside her father, as well as her husband, children and father-in-law, to produce sugar beets, corn, and occasionally small grains and pinto beans. They have a 3,500-head feedlot for backgrounding cattle, a 700 head cow-calf operation and they pasture 7,500 yearlings annually. Additionally, they have a hay operation, baling mixed grass and alfalfa.

“I have always loved every minute of it, the good and the bad,” she said. “I liked school and I did well, but I always wanted to be out on the ranch helping Dad.”

Learning about FSA County Committees
Miller received a degree in accounting from the University of Wyoming. She returned to the ranch after spending time as a loan officer in Arizona for Farm Credit Services Southwest. She utilizes her business acumen to handle all the bookwork for the ranch. She also conducts the ranch’s business with the Farm Service Agency (FSA). In 2017, she was elected to serve on the Platte County FSA County Committee. Continue reading →

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Traditions and Transitions of a 97-Year-Old Farm

Posted on July 13, 2018 by cassiebable

The Bass family transitioned their 97-year-old farm from a tobacco operation to a sod and soybean farm.

By Anthony Landrum, County Executive Director

Walter Edward Bass started the legacy of Bass Farms when the family relocated from Lennig, Virginia, and purchased a farm near Gladys, Virginia in 1921. The farm is quickly approaching the status of a Centennial  Farm – a farm continuously owned by a single family for 100 years or more.

The Bass family has seen many changes in their operation over the last four generations. The biggest adjustment – transitioning from tobacco and cattle production to soybeans and sod.

For many years, the Bass family were successful tobacco and cattle producers. Before 2014, Walter B. Bass, Jr. and sons, Walter (W.B.) and Allen, produced upwards of 165 acres of flue cured tobacco, two to three acres of burley and Virginia dark fire tobacco, in addition to small grains and beef cattle.

Continue reading →

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Lead your FSA – Arizona Committee Member Eager to Learn and Serve

Posted on July 12, 2018 by cassiebable

Becki Ross was recently elected to the Maricopa County, Arizona FSA County Committee.

By Cassie Bable, Public Affairs Specialist

Farming and ranching is a family business for the Ross family and so is serving on the Maricopa County, Arizona, Farm Service Agency (FSA) Committee.

Becki Ross married into a farming and ranching family in 1996 and hasn’t looked back. Ross is part of a fifth-generation family farm that grows 3,000 acres of corn, alfalfa, sorghum, rye and wheat. The family also runs a cow/calf operation and most of the forage they raise is used for their dairy in the east valley.

Ross and her husband, Dustin, live on the ranch with their sons, Wyatt and Nate. Her brother-in-law and his family live on the farm in Gila Bend with her nieces and nephew and her mother and father-in-law live on the dairy in the east valley.  Continue reading →

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Crop Acreage Reporting

Posted on July 10, 2018 by cassiebable

File a timely crop acreage report for spring-planted crops with your local FSA office. Acreage reports help determine eligibility for FSA programs, determining conservation compliance and are used for historical purposes. Hear more about crop acreage reporting from FSA Administrator Richard Fordyce.

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Lead Your FSA – Kentucky Committeeman Serves to Support Fellow Farmers

Posted on July 6, 2018 by cassiebable

Lucas Goodman is a third-generation farmer from Hickman, Kentucky. Along with his dad and a full-time employee, he farms a couple thousand acres producing corn, wheat and soybeans.

By Dana Rogge, Public Affairs Specialist

Lucas Goodman is a third-generation farmer from Hickman, Kentucky. Along with his dad and a full-time employee, he farms a couple thousand acres producing corn, wheat and soybeans. Goodman is a newly-elected member of the Fulton County Farm Service Agency (FSA) County Committee.

Goodman said he never had a doubt about returning to the farm, established by his grandfather. In 2010, after he completed college and graduate school, he joined the farm full time.

“I’ve grown up on this farm,” Goodman said. “It’s always been a part of my life.”

Goodman was approached last year about becoming a nominee to serve on the local FSA county committee. After doing some research on what the job would entail, he decided it would be beneficial to be involved. He was elected and took office Jan. 1, 2018. Continue reading →

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FSA Youth Loans Help Tennessee 4-H and FFA Goat Producer into the Championship Drive

Posted on July 6, 2018 by cassiebable

Adrianne Moeller of Morris Chapel, Tennessee, is a fourth-generation livestock exhibitor.

By Dana Rogge, FSA Public Affairs Specialist

Adrianne Moeller of Morris Chapel, Tennessee, is a fourth-generation livestock exhibitor.

The high school sophomore started showing Boer goats six years ago. Owning, raising and showing livestock can be a costly endeavor, but Moeller looked to Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) youth loan program to help her with herd genetics and to expand her operation.

FSA youth loans help 10 to 21-year-olds start and operate income-producing projects when they belong to 4-H, the National FFA Organization, a tribal youth group, or other agricultural youth organizations. Youth loans provide an opportunity for young entrepreneurs to acquire experience and education in agriculture-related skills.

Moeller started her 4-H meat goat project with four Boer goats. An FSA youth loan helped her purchase two female goats from Texas and helped to cover some of the expense for their artificial insemination. Continue reading →

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New York Farmer-Entrepreneur SCOREs with Help from Mentors and USDA

Posted on June 29, 2018 by cassiebable

Kerry Planck, shown with son, Reece Beiter, 11, turned her passion of raising and milking goats into a successful soap and skincare company, Alpine Made. Photo courtesy of Jillian Barrile Photography.

By Dana Rogge, Public Affairs Specialist

Kerry Planck of Wales, New York, knows farming. What began as a passion project raising goats a decade ago has turned into a successful business, Alpine Made, skincare products made from certified raw organic goat’s milk. While farming came easy for Planck, marketing a new business and getting product into the hands of customers proved to be more difficult. Until she found a mentor and assistance.

In building her business, Planck sought out resources in her community, including USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), whose programs gave her the tools she needed to help accomplish her goals.

FSA provided Planck with her initial financing and she continues to work with FSA for her working capital needs. FSA farm loan programs provide access to credit to start, expand and strengthen farming and ranching operations. She utilized the NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) for fencing and other infrastructure on her farm.

“It’s tremendous what USDA has to offer for people like me – a woman farmer and organic producer,” Planck said. Continue reading →

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Lead your FSA – Wisconsin Farmer Provides Unique Perspective on Local Committee

Posted on June 28, 2018 by cassiebable

Terri Wilfert, a member of the Manitowac County, Wisconsin, Farm Service Agency Committee, and her husband, David, produce a variety of row crops, as well as carrots for processing and a variety of fresh market vegetables.

By Kim Iczkowski, Wisconsin FSA Public Affairs and Outreach Coordinator

The Experience to Lead

In 2008, Terri Wilfert was made aware of an opportunity to serve as an advisor on her local Farm Service Agency (FSA) county committee. After doing more research, she learned local county committees are a critical component of the day-to-day operations of FSA and decided to inquire about the position.

“I felt with my background growing up in the dairy industry, and being involved in vegetable production now, I had a lot to offer the committee,” Wilfert said.

Wilfert and her husband, David, farm just under 700 acres in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, a county sitting along the Lake Michigan shore. The Wilferts produce corn, soybeans, and winter wheat, as well as carrots for processing, and a variety of fresh market vegetables, including strawberries, pumpkins, sweet corn, peas, and more. During the growing season, the family operates a market on their farm seven days a week, where they see over 1000 customers each weekend and sell everything, as Wilfert says, “from asparagus to zucchini.” Continue reading →

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Lead your FSA – Alabama Tree Grower Leads to Inform His Peers

Posted on June 27, 2018 by cassiebable

Willie Scott Smith, along with his brothers, grow pine trees in Alabama. Smith has served on the Greene County FSA Committee for three years.

By Lauren Moore, Public Affairs Specialist

A Family Business

Willie Scott Smith is a pine tree grower in Greene County, Alabama.

Smith owns Andrew Smith and Sons Farm Inc. with his four brothers, an operation established by their father in 1984. Pine trees on the operation span over 350 acres and are sold to a lumber mill.

Smith handles the administrative side of the business.

“I really enjoy the business aspect,” Smith said. “I do the bookkeeping, run reports and keep up with data.”

In addition to his duties on the pine tree operation, Smith worked in financial services for 30 years until he retired in 2005. He is also actively involved with his church, where he sits on a district trustee board and presides over the administrative council and choir. Continue reading →

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