86th Annual Membership Meeting

BY JESSIE SHOOK

For a decade, Alabama Farmers Cooperative (AFC) President and Chief Executive Officer, Rivers Myres, has delivered the President’s Report at the Annual Membership Meeting. That’s 10 years of changes and challenges witnessed and presented to membership. While the challenges of 2022 ring true to history, they also present opportunity for growth. “The lessons we learned from AFC’s first 85 years remain true today and will help us navigate the future,” Myres said.

The past year brought many unexpected challenges and put AFC in uncharted waters – record-high inflation, supply chain disruptions, transportation issues, labor challenges, a mental health crisis, a war in Ukraine and an overall shift in the workforce as we once knew it. “What I know is that we will rise to the occasion,” Myres proclaimed. “We will make hard decisions. We will not take the easy road because what is easy is rarely worthwhile. We will be true to AFC’s values, to each other and ourselves and overcome any adversity we face.”

While rising to meet the challenges faced in the global community, AFC also rose to meet the needs within local communities. Myres spotlighted how AFC and member Co-ops gave back in 2022. “The AFC office participated in the Liz Hurley Ribbon Run for breast cancer awareness and raised over $10,000,” he said. “After a devastating tornado hit Selma, Central Alabama Farmers Cooperative stepped up to help by sharing their facilities and resources with the community and partnering with SouthFresh to serve over 750 hot meals.”

Additionally, AFC was honored to present a donation of $10,000 to Big Oak Ranch on behalf of its members and CoBank. AFC supports and believes in its mission of giving children a place to belong.

These were just a few of the many ways AFC and the member Co-ops have given back. “It makes me proud to see the difference we are making in the lives of others,” Myres added.

As strategic priorities were identified by AFC’s Board of Directors, a main goal was to invest in the growth and development of AFC employees. This led to the creation of the Authentic Leadership Program. The goal of this program is to give employees the opportunity to grow, develop and be the best leader they can be. “Making a difference in people’s lives is our legacy,” Myres explained. “Although we worked hard and recorded a profit this year, no one will remember AFC’s net income in 2022. However, years down the road, we will remember the life lessons about leadership we learned along the way.”

AFC is reaping the benefits of its investment in people. Recently awarded the Great Place To Work Certification™, AFC is looking toward the future and continues to make positive changes in leadership. After four years as AFC’s Corporate Controller, Brad Benson was promoted to Chief Financial Officer. Thomas Hallin moved to the position of President of Cooperative Financial Services, as he works to grow and improve the services offered to members.

After 42 years of dedicated service to AFC, Tina Johnson retired as Chief Human Resource Officer, paving the way for Taylor McRae, who was promoted from AFC’s Internal Auditor to Human Resource Manager. These transitions were seamless and are helping continue to make AFC the best it can be.

In 2022, Myres reported that AFC distributed $3.4 million to membership in patronage and equity retirement. He also proudly presented the President’s Award to each participating member. “I am so proud of the leadership of our member Co-ops,” he said. “For the first time in the history of AFC, each participating member had positive local earnings and achieved the President’s Award. That is truly an outstanding accomplishment.”

Chief Financial Officer Brad Benson gave his inaugural financial report to membership detailing the challenges faced in 2022. “Just consider the difficulties you may have had in obtaining inventory, supplies and even workers,” Benson explained. “And I’m sure that you all found things to be more expensive than they used to be.”

Despite the challenges that continue to strain every industry, AFC remains on top. “AFC was built for this,” Benson said. “By no means should we feel invincible, but we can now see … the strategic moves made in recent years, specifically within our Bonnie, GreenPoint, Faithway and AFC Feed joint ventures … all have contributed to the financial position that’s been able to endure these seemingly relentless headwinds.”

AFC paid down $31 million of debt while maintaining equity at over $390 million. Additionally, it has returned over $105 million to the membership over the last 10 years. “These are the results of what AFC was able to accomplish, even in the midst of challenging times,” Benson said. “We should be thankful for the daily efforts of the nearly 8,000 employees across our network of companies and the leadership that encourages, directs and supports us while doing everything they can to maintain a commitment to profitability.”

At the conclusion of the business meeting, AFC’s Board Chairman Ben Haynes spoke of the structure AFC has built with its ventures to be successful. “These ventures have helped to diversify AFC’s business and are building blocks of the future,” Haynes stated. “Each of these joint ventures provides a value at scale that we could not otherwise achieve on our own.”

In closing, Haynes described how teamwork is important in business, but AFC is more than that, it’s a family. With a family of eight, Haynes joked, “It is one large family, and believe me, I know about large families. At my house, occasionally we get in each other’s way, and sometimes someone feels like they’re not getting enough attention, but it is astonishing what we can accomplish when we pull together!”