HOME

FEATURES

RECIPES

LINKS

ARCHIVE

CONTACT

EVENTS

SUBSCRIPTION

AD RATES & INFO

SCHOLARSHIPS


Home

 

Archive Contents

Paulk positive about State of AFC

by Fran Sharp

AFC President and CEO Tommy Paulk announced the third consecutive year of record earnings and a return of $5.7 million to its member cooperatives at AFC’s 69th Annual Meeting in Auburn. He noted, however, that this is no time for members and staff to rest on their laurels, nor spend a great amount of time patting themselves on the back.

The February meeting came just weeks after President George Bush’s State of the Union address where he pronounced the national economy good and improving, yet offered no reassurance to farmers who fear the loss of their safety net provided by the 2002 Farm Bill.

Paulk, however, was not so reticent to show his concern over the economic situation regarding the agricultural section of the economy.


Tommy Paulk addresses AFC’s 69th Annual Meeting.

AFC President and CEO Tommy Paulk announced the third consecutive year of record earnings and a return of $5.7 million to its member cooperatives at AFC’s 69th Annual Meeting in Auburn. He noted, however, that this is no time for members and staff to rest on their laurels, nor spend a great amount of time patting themselves on the back.

The February meeting came just weeks after President George Bush’s State of the Union address where he pronounced the national economy good and improving, yet offered no reassurance to farmers who fear the loss of their safety net provided by the 2002 Farm Bill.

Paulk, however, was not so reticent to show his concern over the economic situation regarding the agricultural section of the economy.

"From the White House to the halls of Congress, powerful politicians at the highest levels have publicly declared their desire to end all farm subsidies," Paulk said. He added that Congress and Administration claims that there is no money because of a huge budget deficit is belied by the fact that "they find money for their special pet projects.

"The ’02 Farm Bill, which provided a badly needed hand up for our nations’ farmers, is set to expire soon and not even the people who will help draft it know today what the 2007 Farm Bill will contain or how it will impact U.S. agriculture."

Paulk advised AFC members and staff to pressure their congressmen to understand that the farm subsidy crisis is more than the loss of a safety net to family farms, but a national security issue.

"How easy will it be for someone to poison food supplies shipped to us from third world countries that can’t even protect their own food supplies. And think how we will be weakened as a nation, if we are as dependent upon foreign nations for food as we are today for oil."

Paulk said the most serious challenge to be faced by AFC and its member cooperatives is the set of challenges faced by farmer members, "because AFC’s success is inextricably tied to their success. The same high energy costs that have driven down the margins for our local Co-ops on fertilizers, crop protection materials, animals feeds and other products necessary for production agriculture have driven up the prices for these same products for the farmers who must purchase them, while the prices received by farmers for their products are lower or flat at best."

Paulk also spoke of unnecessary restrictions on GMO technology and laid the blame at the feet of misguided environmentalists who have frightened an uninformed public, rendering the technology more expensive, less accessible and less useful to farmers and a hungry world.

He then asked store managers, division managers, member farmers and staff to build on the mutual earned trust between them to meet the challenges of 2006.

"We must stick together in our buying and in our marketing when we have a vehicle for doing so. Folks, I would submit to you that your local Farmer’s Cooperative is such a vehicle. Your loyalty to your Co-op, which in essence is really your loyalty to your fellow farmers and ultimately to yourself, has never been more critical. Your Co-op deserves the last look on every price on every product, on every service, and then – it deserves your business. We must all go out into our communities and sing the praises of our Co-op, and then – we must put our money where our mouths are."

Fran Sharp is a freelance writer from Alabaster.

Back Home

Archive Contents

TOP


 

COPYRIGHT © 2006 TURNER PUBLISHING CO .,INC., ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Date Last Updated January, 2006