Two directors elected to AgFirst Farm Credit Bank board
January 31, 2018
AgFirst Farm Credit Bank has elected two new directors and re-elected two current directors to four-year terms, all of whom will serve on the Board of Directors for the Columbia-based bank until Dec. 31, 2021.
William J. Franklin Jr. of Duffield, Va., and James Alvin Lyons of Georgetown, Ky., are newly elected to the board. S. Alan Marsh of Madison, Ala., and Fred R. Moore Jr. of Eden, Md., were re-elected.
William J. Franklin Jr. and James Alvin Lyons
AgFirst is a cooperative that provides funding and technology services to banks that serve farmers and rural communities in the Eastern part of the United States and Puerto Rico.
William J. Franklin Jr. is a lifelong farmer who has been a Farm Credit customer since 1986. He also worked for Farm Credit in southwest Virginia for 11 years and served on the board of Farm Credit of the Virginias for more than two decades. He runs a 900-acre cow/calf operation in Duffield, Va., and earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education from Virginia Tech. He has served a wide variety of community and professional organizations and spent the past 22 years as CEO of the Scott County Telephone Cooperative.
James Alvin Lyons started his farming operation when he was in high school, growing a few acres of burley tobacco on rented land in Kentucky. Today, he grows a variety of crops over 1,000 acres with his son and runs a 180-head cow/calf herd. Lyons has served in leadership positions for a variety of agriculture organizations throughout Kentucky and has served on the board of Central Kentucky AgCredit since 2001. He has been a Farm Credit customer since the 1980s. Through the University of Kentucky, he has completed the Ag Leadership Development and Master Cattlemen programs.
S. Alan Marsh is a third-generation row crop farmer in Madison, Ala. He is a partner in Marsh Farms and serves on the First South Farm Credit board. Marsh has served on the AgFirst board since 2010. He received a Business Management Certification from Stratford Career Institute and has attended numerous learning events to expand his knowledge in areas from director training and marketing to irrigation and farm safety. Marsh serves on a variety of industry groups and is president and stockholder of South Limestone Co-op Gin.
Fred R. Moore Jr. operates a turf and grain operation in Eden, Md., and became an AgFirst director in 2014. He is also a partner in a rental business and serves on his local Farm Credit Association in Maryland. Moore has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. He is an active life member of the Allen Volunteer Fire Company, serves on several local boards and is a member of the FFA Alumni Association.
AgFirst has 17 directors who use their experience and expertise to help further the mission of Farm Credit: Supporting rural communities and agriculture with reliable, consistent credit and financial services, today and tomorrow.
About AgFirst Farm Credit Bank
AgFirst Farm Credit Bank is one of four banks that make up the nationwide Farm Credit System and is the largest financial institution headquartered in South Carolina. Farm Credit has supported rural communities and agriculture with reliable, consistent credit and financial services for more than 100 years. AgFirst is a cooperative providing funding to 19 Associations in 15 states and Puerto Rico and services to 20 Associations in 18 states and Puerto Rico.
