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Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation
Agricultural News and Information
Greg Gibson, Coordinator
Public Relations / Multimedia
1-800-227-8244 ext. 4154
or 601-977-4154
email: ggibson@msfb.org
Waide re-elected as Farm Bureau concludes 87th annual meeting
JACKSON – Nearly 750 Farm Bureau members, representing the state’s
82 county Farm Bureaus, took part in the three-day meeting where, in addition
to the election of officers and directors, the delegates adopted policy
to guide the organization’s efforts during 2009. Policies relating
to national issues will be forwarded to the American Farm Bureau Federation
for consideration at its annual meeting, which is scheduled for San Antonio,
TX, in mid-January.
David Waide, a row-crop and cattle producer from West Point, Mississippi,
was re-elected to his seventh term as President of the Mississippi Farm
Bureau Federation. Donald Gant from Merigold was re-elected as Vice President-North
Mississippi; Randy Knight from Pelahatchie was re-elected as Vice President-Central
Mississippi; and Reggie Magee from Mt. Olive was re-elected as Vice President-South
Mississippi.
The delegate body identified several areas of interest as priority issues
for the upcoming year including eminent domain, the right to farm, and
animal welfare issues.
Newly elected or re-elected directors on the MFBF Board include Kevin
Simpson, Ashland; Bill Ryan Tabb, Cleveland; Danny Bishop, Baldwyn; Doss
Brodnax, Starkville; Weldon Harris, Kosciusko; Max Anderson, Decatur;
Mark Cheney, Vicksburg; Bill Pigott, Tylertown; Wendell Gavin, Laurel;
and Tom Daniels, Gulfport. Brad Woods of Columbia will sit on the Board
due to his election as Young Farmer & Rancher Committee chairman.
Preston and Amy Arrington of Inverness were selected as Farm Bureau’s
Young Farmer Achievement Award winner and will travel to San Antonio to
represent Mississippi in the National Young Farmer Achievement Award competition.
Amanda Edwards of Starkville won the Young Farmer Discussion Meet, an
event that challenges contestants’ discussion skills and their ability
to persuade others to see their side of an issue. She will also compete
in the national competition in San Antonio in January.
Farm Bureau’s highest award, the MFBF Distinguished Service Award,
was presented to Dr. Will McCarty, retired cotton specialist with the
Cooperative Extension Service. Dr. McCarty has worked closely with Farm
Bureau over the years to develop cotton policy that has been beneficial
to producers and he has given selflessly of his time to help farmers all
over Mississippi.
The Excellence in Leadership Award went to Maurice Layton of Simpson County
for his many years of dedicated service to agriculture in Mississippi.
Monty Ladner of Leake County was given the Ag Ambassador Award for his
work in promoting agriculture and Mississippi.
There were two recipients of the Friend of Agriculture Award. Senator
Doug Davis of DeSoto County and Representative David Norquist of Bolivar
County received the award for their support of agriculture and Farm Bureau
in the Mississippi Legislature.
In other meeting activities, Katie Vanderslice of Jones County, a junior
poultry science major at Mississippi State University, was selected as
Miss Farm Bureau - Mississippi in a competition with 6 other contestants
from around the state. Vanderslice will serve as a spokesperson for Farm
Bureau during the next year.
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