FFBT Holds Annual Ag Client Seminar

On Tuesday, February 24th, approximately 160 agricultural clients and 30 employees gathered at the Roseburg Event Center in Marion to participate in First Farmers’ annual Ag Seminar. These seminars are meant to educate FFBT clients on a variety of different topics as well as provide an enjoyable and relaxing atmosphere.

This year’s seminar began with a brief welcome from Tade Powell, Director of Marketing and Public Relations. Our first speaker of the day was Andy Ambriole, a 2007 graduate of Huntington North High School and recipient of the FFA Star Farmer Award. Andy spoke about his projects on his farm, his use of organic farming, and what it takes to become organic. The next speaker was FFBT’s President and CEO Gene Miles. Gene informed our clients about what our economy and the banking sector is experiencing, explained the TARP program (which FFBT declined to use), and showed how FFBT is dealing with these issues in the industry. Dr. Wesley Jamison, professor of Agricultural Politics at the University of Florida spoke next. Dr. Jamison spoke about the future of agriculture: the trends, issues, and direction that agriculture will take in the coming years, and what farmers need to be aware of now. Before lunch, Damian Mason lightened the mood with some agricultural comedy.

Following a lunch provided by the Roseburg Event Center, Ken Perkins, a Senior Commercial Lender at FFBT, spoke about his recent trip to Laos. Ken spends a few weeks each year teaching Lao citizens about agriculture and farming. He checks in with a few people who are running farms and helps them with any problems or questions they may have. He has helped them grow corn and raise pigs, along with many other products.

Our key note speaker for the afternoon was Dr. Robert Fraley, Chief Technology Officer for Monsanto in St. Louis, MO. Dr. Fraley is known as the father of Round-Up Ready® crops. He spoke about the new technology that Monsanto will be introducing in the next few years and how this technology will be beneficial to farmers. We ended the seminar with a question and answer session with Dr. Fraley and closing remarks from Tade Powell.

Video from this event is available on our Facebook business page and on our YouTube page, both of which are accessible from our homepage at www.ffbt.com. Video will be available on our website in a few weeks. For full coverage, please contact your local FFBT officer or call (765) 395-3316 to request your free copy.