After a combination of some recent retirements and some new member applications, our membership roster now reports 86 members. I am pleased and excited to welcome eight (8) new consulting professionals to membership in the Society. These eight new members are employees in the consulting practice division of Horizon Farm Credit, ACA, headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.
Welcome as new members from Horizon Farm Credit
Mike Hosterman – Mechanicsburg, PA
John Black – Curryville, PA
Wayne Brubaker – Chambersburg, PA
Rob Goodling – Lewisburg, PA
Jacob Lantzsch – Mechanicsburg, PA
Philip Taylor – Meadville, PA
Lee Wenger – Mechanicsburg, PA
Rosalie Zaginaylo – Lewisburg, PA
We wish Marnie Bodine in Washington and Cynthia Moen in Minnesota well in their retirement years.
We are continuing to build interest in the work of the Society by talking to our fellow professionals in the industry, and by advancing the mission and vision of the Society to be the premier organization for agricultural professional development.
We’ve been regularly fielding inquiries from people hearing and reading about ASAC, expressing interest in membership and in the Certified Agricultural Consultant program. A priority Key Action Item for the coming years will be ramping up the certification process and getting the CAC designation awarded to more members.
I challenge everyone to focus on recruiting one new member this year. If we all do that, we’ll double our membership.
I also challenge everyone -- long tenured members and newly joined members alike -- to review the variety of information on ASAC’s website, familiarize yourself with the workings and administration of the Society, and consider where your talents and energy can be put to use in helping to govern, manage, advertise and grow the organization.
Our committee work is the fuel that will power the organization forward. See the list at the end of this article and go on-line to study each one. Contact the committee chair and help in any way you can.
We definitely need new members and long-term members together on committee assignments to get some new thinking and ideas “mixing it up” with some of our seasoned programs. Some of you members who have recently joined may have good experiences in other organizations as board members, regional directors and officers. Don’t hesitate to step up and consider a governance and management role. We need you....and your experience....and your energy!
We have the Eastern and Southern Region Director seats up for election this year. The Regional Directors serve two-year terms, beginning and ending at the conclusion of the Annual Meeting. In 2024, the Northern and Western Region Director positions will be up for election for a two-year term.
Also, the Vice President/Secretary position is open. The person elected to this position each year is then in the officer rotation line, moving in succeeding years to President-Elect, then to President, and then to Past President. The Past President each year serves as the Nominating Committee Chair. Kyle Walker is presently serving as Past President and Nominating Committee Chair. Anyone interested in any position to be elected at the Annual Meeting on Tuesday, November 7, please contact Kyle at kyle.walker@peoplescompany.com
************************************
The Annual Meeting and Conference, planned for November 5 – 7 in Fresno, California, is coming together. Go online to the ASAC website and get your registration and lodging locked in.
We have some excellent speakers and topics coming together. We are looking forward to being in the center of one of the most productively rich agricultural regions in the world. I’ve read that roughly half of the fruit and vegetable produce consumed in America comes from a 100-mile radius of Fresno. I can’t wait to get there.
Fresno County Ag Commissioner Melissa Cregan is scheduled to welcome us Monday morning to Fresno for this 60th anniversary meeting of the Society, where it all began, when ASAC was conceptualized and organized in 1963 by several professional livestock nutritionists working with dairy and beef feedlot producers.
Don Tyler, from Indiana and our Northern Region Director, will speak on “How to Ask the Next Question.” He focuses his practice on helping families navigate the challenges of strategic business planning and human resource management, meeting immediate needs of the farm business as well as for long-term viability and success.
We’ll have someone from the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco speaking to us about the economic landscape, interest rate policy, and other workings of the Federal Reserve.
Technology is always a subject on our program agenda. It evolves daily. It will be interesting and educational to see what is being developed and put into useful applications.
Water, water, everywhere.....California is arguably the epicenter of water utilization and distribution. We’ll hear from a panel of local water district officials and ag professionals who focus on this critical infrastructure part of California's agricultural economy.
Not only will Dick Wittman have a topic presentation on Monday afternoon at the conference; he will also conduct his Train-the-Trainer workshop prior to the conference. It will be on Saturday and Sunday, ending on Sunday afternoon prior to the beginning of the ASAC pre-conference board meeting and opening reception.
We have some additional program topics and presentations we’re finalizing. Stay tuned.
************************************
Member Highlights:
Kyle Walker with Peoples Company recently visited Alaska and reviewed agricultural opportunities there. We don’t think of Alaska and agriculture in the same sentence. I certainly haven’t. I think of ice, oil drilling on the North Slope, polar bears and Alaska cruises. Though the growing season is short, Kyle reports significant opportunities are present there.
Joanna Lidback in Vermont has experienced quite a bit of historic flooding in her neck of the woods recently. Thankfully, her family farm is on higher elevations. She reports that, if flooding reaches her farm, Noah and his ark full of animals will have already long set sail. Joanna is the Eastern Region Director of the Society.
Don Tyler is staying busy with his management consulting practice over a large number of states. His focus on human resource management helps employers and employees work better together. Don lives in northern Indiana and is the Society’s Northern Region Director. He has written and posted much of the blog post content on the website.
Keith Raynor, Southern Region Director, lives in eastern North Carolina and tells us it’s hot, humid and wet there right now. He says the crops look pretty darn good. He also confirms that the barbeque in eastern North Carolina is still top notch.
Our programs...............
Shop Talk program. Contact Jean Merry and Russell Morgan for information to help develop a program. Consider putting something together from your company or industry and host one.
The Blog Post. Write an article on something pertinent to our ag consulting profession and submit it to Don Tyler, Northern Region Director (don@dontyler.com). He’s taking the lead on getting content to the website. Keep an article to no more than 600 words.
Standing Committees:
Membership – Ron Rabou - raboufarms@gmail.com
Nominating – Kyle Walker - kyle.walker@peoplescompany.com
By-Laws – Dave Mielnicki - david.mielnicki@nmrk.com
Ethics and Grievance – Ethan Robertson - ethan.robertson@farmcrediteast.com
Continuing Education – Russell Morgan - education@agconsultants.org
Annual Meeting – Keith Dickinson - keith.dickinson@farmcrediteast.com
Finance – Keith Raynor - keith@trpsumner.com
Ad Hoc Committees
Marketing and Promotion – Paige Gilligan - collateralexec@gmail.com
Strategic Alliance – Norm Brown - norm@fbssystems.com
Remember...............
The Sky is NOT the Limit!
Pete Weisenberger
President
