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Northeast Texas Farmer’s Co-Op board members Harold Bryant, Andry Wright, Alvin McCool, Johnny French, Bobby Deen, Jerry Gibby, Steve Chaney, Tommy Potts, Bob Greenway and Brad Johnson celebrate the organization’s 80 years. Staff photo by Taylor Nye
Co-Op facing railroad challenges, triumphs with updated facilities
Agriculture
The Northeast Texas Farmers Co-Op hosted its 80th annual stockholders meeting Thursday, to discuss the highs and lows that come with a life and career in agriculture.
With 226 members in attendance, general manager Brad Johnson noted attendance was not as high as in previous years. Heavy spring precipitation had delayed hay harvest until late May and early June, so many who would regularly attend were “in the hay,” Johnson said.
Minutes of the previous meeting from April 2018 were unanimously approved by the more than 200 in attendance.
Special guest speaker J.B. Smith, former Smith County sheriff, entertained the crowd with a comedy routine. A Vietnam veteran, Smith tours across the U.S. as a humorist for law enforcement agencies from local police departments to returning navy seals to promote healing through laughter from what he says are often stressful jobs.
Smith is now the star of the Investigation Discovery television program LoneStar Justice, where he discusses his past cases.
Tommy Nelson, a certified public accountant, delivered the balance statements in detail to members assembled. NETFC sold $45.7 million dollars in goods in fiscal year 2019, according to documents.
Nelson describes this as a loss of $5 million from 2018 due to the loss in popularity of mix poultry feed.
Overall, Nelson described the asset to liability at a “very healthy” 1 to 1.28 ratio.
Patron equity in NETFC stands at $5.5 million in 2019, Nelson said.
Johnson noted that in addition to healthy sales overall, NETFC added farm and ranch centers at Canton and Clarksville. The sales at both of those centers are up more than 20%, Johnson said.
The Sulphur Springs farm and ranch center has improved the back dock loading area, Johnson said, with additional paving and a forklift ramp.
However, Johnson said NETFC faces challenges in the foreseeable future in the Sulphur Springs and Greenville locations.
“We ship 107,0000 tons of bulk and bag feed last fiscal year,” Johnson told the crowd, and he said this is the equivalent of 1,070 rail cars.
Currently, feed products are shipped into Mount Pleasant via a national rail handler, and then shipped to Sulphur Springs, Greenville and Titus, and Franklin, Hopkins and Delta counties, Johnson said.
A board called the Northeast Texas Rural Rail Transportation District (NETEX) is responsible for operating the line, Johnson said.
“We are at risk without specific action by the NETEX board to secure an operator beyond one to two years,” Johnson said. “They need to seek partnerships to secure the future. The alternative for these counties and our cooperative is another railroad abandonment.”
Johnson refers to the abandonment of the tracks prior to 1999 when Black-lands Railroad took over their operation.
“Our increased cost for sourcing ingredients was conservatively estimated by our merchants to be about $55,000 per month,” Johnson added.
Johnson urged NETFC members to talk to their county commissioners and economic development corporations about the status of NETEX.
“Ask them what it would mean to lose the railroad,” he said.
Johnson mentioned the NETFC board members passed a resolution on April 30 that they presented at the May 20 Hopkins County commissioners court which expressed “no confidence and lack of transparency in the current NETEX board structure and leadership.”
Johnson appeared earlier in the day on June 6 to express the same resolution before the NETEX board themselves. At the NETEX meeting, he stated he planned to appear before the Hunt County commissioners as well.
The meeting proceeded with the election of three board member positions. Andry Wright, Bob Green-way and Alvin McCool were all re-elected to their positions. Although the floor was opened for nominations, none were proposed.
The meeting ended with door prizes and an ice cream social.
Although the Co-Op has more than 6,000 active members, farmers say participation feels individualized. Winnsboro farmer Karen Sims, who was in attendance, owns 55 acres with black angus cattle. Sims says she will drive to Sulphur Springs even if the Co-Op only saves $20 on a load of bag feed.
“They really take care of you,” she said.
“It [the Co-Op] is the purest form of locally owned business that exists in the United States today,” Johnson said.