Testimonials Commercial Farmers Summer 2015 | Page 2

By Mark Parker It’s the people who matter With 4,000 sows and 700 cows, Bob North is heavily into the livestock business. Despite those animal numbers, though, the Lebanon farmer would tell you it’s still all about people. “You don’t do this without a lot of people helping you,” he says. “The people on staff here at the farm, the Cargill people, the folks at FCS Financial — they are all highly valued.” North started the pork side of the business in 1992 with a 500-sow farrow-to-feeder-pig operation as a contract producer for Cargill. That enterprise has expanded steadily over the years in terms of pigs, people and facilities. And FCS Financial has been part of it every step of the way. “I think they understood what we wanted to do,” says North, who is a past chairman of the Missouri Pork Association. “They could see the same future we hoped to see. “We have been able to use several different financial products to fit our situation and the competitive rates and patronage have been a pretty good blend. And, of course, there are the people. Gary Tompkins (vice president in the Jefferson City office) and Shanda Nichols (senior credit analyst) have helped us a bunch Bob North — they’re great on support.” North’s swine enterprise gets a lot of pork headed toward America’s dinner tables. His 4,000 sows produce an average of 28 pigs per year and that, he says, is due in large degree to good facilities and good managers to run them. “A quality confinement facility is not only good from the standpoint of production efficiency — which is good for the consumer — it’s also beneficial to the animals themselves,” North says. “We can control the environment for their comfort and well-being and we can provide individual care for the sows and pigs in terms of health and nutrition. “I’ve had pigs outside and I now have them inside. In all respects, inside is superior.” The beef enterprise complements the pork enterprise, North says. The 2,700 acres of pasture and 300 acres of hay and silage provide more than just forage for the cowherd. It’s also a place to utilize the manure from the swine facilities to turn the Ozark hills lush with grass and legumes. Bob North’s appreciation for quality people is hard-earned. In 2013, he lost Missy, his wife of 38 years, whom he regarded as his best friend, business partner and integral part of the operation. But once again, it was people who made a difference. “I was in a fog for about six months. I was lost,” he recalls. “The folks who had been with me here the longest had to carry me. Friends, family, the people you work with, believe me, that’s what really counts.”