AgFirst Farm Credit Bank announces results of 2015 Director elections
December 3, 2015
AgFirst Farm Credit Bank has elected William Robinson of St. Matthews, S.C., as its newest Director. He will serve a four-year term, which will expire Dec. 31, 2019.
Directors John Langford of Lakeland, Fla.; Jimmy Norsworthy of Jackson, La.; Ellis Taylor of Roanoke Rapids, N.C.; and Dale Hershey of Manheim, Penn., all were re-elected to the Board for four-year terms. Katherine Pace was re-appointed as an outside director for a four-year term. All of these terms expire on Dec. 31, 2019.
William Robinson
Robinson is a professional engineer in Lexington, S.C., and a third-generation farmer. He has owned and operated Robinson Family Farms, which consists of 40 acres of row crops and 200 acres of timber, for nearly a quarter of a century. He is also involved in a partnership that leases a 100-acre cow and calf farm with 50 head of cattle, as well as 10 acres of coastal Bermuda hay. Robinson retired earlier this year from Santee Cooper, South Carolina’s publicly owned utility. A director with AgSouth Farm Credit since 2011, he currently serves as vice chairman of the Board for that AgFirst Association. He also is a member of the AgFirst Benefits Plan Sponsor Committee and the AgFirst/FCBT Benefits Plan Sponsor Committee. Robinson received both his B.S. and M.S. in civil engineering from Clemson University. He also earned an MBA from Charleston Southern University.
John Langford
Langford started his citrus growing operations in Lakeland, Fla., from scratch, building it up to 150 employees and more than $10 million in sales. He developed 450 acres of citrus prior to citrus greening and operated as a commercial farming contractor for 2,650 additional acres. He also serves as a real estate broker and is a founding director of Community Southern Bank in Lakeland, where he is chairman of the board. Langford is vice chairman of the AgFirst Board. He serves as a director on the Farm Credit of Central Florida Association Board and as a member of the Farm Credit System Audit Committee. Langford received his B.A. in history and accounting from Emory University and his MBA from Harvard Business School.
Jimmy Norsworthy
Norsworthy runs a 145-head cow-calf operation in Jackson, La. He also farms a combined 275 acres of commercial hay and 500 acres of hardwood timber. Norsworthy served for nearly 30 years as the mayor of Jackson and was the administrative director for the state of Louisiana. He is a director on the First South Association Board, serves on the board of the Feliciana Farm Bureau and is a member of the Feliciana Forestry Association, the Feliciana Farmers Coop, the American Angus Association and the East Feliciana Cattlemen’s Association. Norsworthy earned a B.S. in vocational agricultural education from Louisiana State University.
Ellis Taylor
Taylor is the owner-operator of Mush Island Farms LLC, a row crop operation in Roanoke Rapids, N.C., and a management team member of Roanoke Cotton Co. LLC, which operates three cotton gins and a cotton bale warehouse. He is chairman of the AgFirst Audit Committee; serves on the AgCarolina Farm Credit Governance Committee as vice chairman, Credit Committee and Corporate Giving Fund; and is a member of the N.C. Farm Bureau, N.C. Peanut Growers Association, Northampton County FSA Committee and Northampton County Voluntary Agricultural District. Taylor received a B.S. in Agronomy, a B.S. in agricultural business management and a Master’s of Economics from N.C. State University.
Dale Hershey
Hershey has been a self-employed farmer since 1981 and is the senior partner in Hershey Brothers Dairy Farm in Manheim, Penn., managing the real estate and cropping enterprises. A fifth-generation farmer, he is a member of the Lancaster County Blue Ribbon Ag Advisory Committee appointed by county commissioners, a member of the Penn Township Ag Security Committee and a member of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. He serves as a director on the MidAtlantic Association Board and the National Farm Credit Council Board. Hershey attended Eastern Mennonite University and graduated from Penn State University with a B.S. in community development and an M.S. in agricultural economics and rural sociology.
Katherine Pace
Pace is a certified public accountant in Orlando, Fla., and principal of Family Business Consulting LLC, which provides financial and strategic planning for closely held businesses. Prior to forming her company, she was a tax partner with KPMG LLP, an audit, tax and advisory service firm, from 1985-2005. Pace is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants and current and past member and director of numerous trade and charitable organizations. She is the Board-designated financial expert and serves as a member of the Board Audit Committee. Ms. Pace obtained her B.S. degree in accounting from Furman University.
Other members of the AgFirst Board are: Jack W. Bentley Jr., Tignall, Ga.; James C. Carter Jr., McDonough, Ga.; Bonnie V. Hancock, Wake Forest, N.C.; Curtis R. Hancock Jr., Fulton, Ky.; Walter C. Hopkins Sr., Lewes, Del.; William K. Jackson, New Salem, Penn.; S. Jerry Layman, Kenton, Ohio; S. Alan Marsh, Madison, Ala.; James L. May, Waynesburg, Ky.; Fred R. Moore Jr., Eden, Md.; Thomas E. Porter, Concord, N.C.; Robert G. Sexton, Vero Beach, Fla.; Robert H. Spiers Jr., Dinwiddie County, Va.; and Michael T. Stone, Rowland, N.C.
About AgFirst Farm Credit Bank
AgFirst Farm Credit Bank is part of the nationwide Farm Credit System and the largest financial institution headquartered in South Carolina. With reported assets of more than $28 billion, AgFirst provides funding and financial services to 19 Agricultural Credit Associations in 15 eastern states and Puerto Rico. These Associations operate as Farm Credit and Ag Credit member-owned cooperatives, and provide real estate and production financing to 80,000 farmers, agribusinesses and rural homeowners.
About Farm Credit
The Farm Credit System is a network of agricultural and rural lending institutions cooperatively owned by their borrowers. Farm Credit helps maintain and improve the quality of life in rural America and on the farm, through its constant commitment to competitive lending, expert financial services and a feeling of partnership with its customers. The Farm Credit System reported combined assets of more than $280 billion as of June 2015. ~
