Landscapes Winter 2015 - Site Bridge

Celebrate
the Past,
Embrace
TexasFCS.com | (800) 950-8563
the Future
Excitement is building
at Texas Farm Credit in
anticipation of the Farm
Credit System’s 100th
anniversary in 2016.
We are eager to celebrate the day when
President Woodrow Wilson signed the
Farm Credit Act on July 17, 1916, creating the Farm Credit System. On that day,
farmers and ranchers across the country
gained a new source of financing that
would support agriculture in good
times and bad.
The System’s longevity has much to do
with how it was structured by Congress
nearly a century ago. Congressional
lawmakers chose a cooperative structure, wherein members would have a
say in how their lending institution is
run and would share in its benefits.
Texas Farm Credit is proud to be a part
of this System and to have been able
to assist agricultural producers, decade
after decade.
We hope you will help us celebrate the
Farm Credit centennial in 2016, and we
look forward to working with you and
future generations for another
100 years!
Serving Those Who
Serve the Nation
Farm Credit has been serving veterans for as long as we’ve
been around.
Nearly a century ago, the United States entered World
War I, sending more than 2 million troops to Europe over
19 months. Many of those soldiers and sailors were young farm people, and when they
came home, some turned to their local Farm Credit cooperatives, established during the
war, for financing to purchase land.
Since then, millions more young people from rural areas have fought to protect our
nation’s freedom. Even today, over 40 percent of the men and women who serve in the
U.S. military come from rural communities, although just 16 percent of the American
population lives in rural areas.
Coming home and building a new career can be difficult, and rural America is one place
where they can start. As a cooperative lending organization that is owned by farmers and
ranchers, Farm Credit has always worked hard to meet the financing needs of returning
veterans.
Texas Farm Credit is proud to support organizations and programs that help our newest generation of veterans. One such program is the Farmer Veteran Coalition. Through
a collaboration of the farming and military communities, the coalition aims to help
10,000 veterans through training, mentoring and direct assistance.
Another is Homegrown by Heroes, a labeling program that identifies and promotes
agricultural products grown or raised by U.S. veterans and active-duty personnel.
Veterans Day was just a few weeks ago, but appreciating veterans’ service — and providing service to them — is not limited to one day a year at Farm Credit. If you, or someone
you know, is a veteran or current member of the U.S. military, please let us know. We’ll
be happy to offer guidance for making a home or a career in rural America.
Thank you to all of our vets — and best wishes to our customers and our friends for a
very happy holiday season.
Mark Miller
Chief Executive Officer
A S SOC I ATIO N S U PPLE M EN T – W I N TER 2015
Texas Farm Credit Awards $10,000
in College Scholarships
Garrison McCord is a recent
graduate of Atlanta High School in
Atlanta. He plans to attend Texas A&M
University next fall, majoring in forestry.
While in high school, he was an active
member of the Atlanta FFA Chapter,
serving as vice president for two years,
and participating on the wildlife, forestry,
trap shooting and show steer teams. In
addition, he participated in several sports
including baseball and football, and was
named a Football Academic All-State
Award Recipient in 2015. McCord was a
member of the National Honor Society,
and volunteered in various roles as an
active member of the First Baptist Church
of Atlanta.
T
exas Farm Credit recently presented $2,000 scholarships
to five students across the
state through the 2015 Marsha Martin
Scholarship Program.
The scholarships honor the memory of
Marsha Pyle Martin, a native of Paris,
Texas, who at the time of her death in
January 2000 was chairman and chief
executive officer of the Farm Credit
Administration, which regulates the
nationwide Farm Credit System.
Since 2000, the rural lending cooperative
has presented $106,500 in college scholarships to students who are pursuing
agriculture-related fields.
“Marsha Martin was an inspiring leader
and a dedicated advocate for agriculture
and rural America,” said Mark Miller, chief
executive officer. “We are proud to carry
on her work through these scholarships,
which recognize the achievements of
outstanding students in the rural communities we serve.”
Following are details of the scholarship
recipients’ achievements.
Patrick Clay is a recent graduate of O’Connor High School in San
Antonio. He plans to attend Texas A&M
University next fall, pursuing a degree
in agribusiness. While in high school, he
was an active member of the O’Connor
TEXAS FARM CREDIT
FFA Chapter, serving as chapter president
while also representing 14,500 members
as the Area VII president. Clay was an officer of the National Honor Society, and a
member of the parliamentary procedure
team and Mu Alpha Theta Mathematics
Honor Society. He participated in numerous public-speaking competitions,
garnering several awards, including the
senior public speaking championship at
the State Fair of Texas in 2013 and a firstplace award at the Aggiefest Speaking
Event in 2014.
Hannah Derouen is a recent
graduate of East Chambers High School
in Winnie. She plans to attend Blinn
College next fall, pursuing a degree in
agribusiness/agricultural education.
She was an active member of the East
Chambers FFA Chapter, serving as president during her senior year and participating on the farm radio broadcasting
and senior quiz teams. Active in livestock
showing, Derouen showed the grand
champion steer at the Chambers County
Youth Project Show twice, and her steers
placed at both the Fort Worth Stock
Show and the San Antonio Livestock
Exposition in 2015. She was a member
of the Texas Junior Simmental/Simbrah
Association and the East Chambers High
School Student Council. Derouen also
volunteered at the Arboretum Nursing
Home in Winnie.
Mayzie Purviance is a recent
graduate of Rivercrest High School in
Bogota. She plans to attend Paris Junior
College next fall to study agri-communications and journalism. She was an active
member of the FFA, serving as president
of the Rivercrest FFA Chapter and secretary of the Paris District. Purviance
competed as a member of the livestock
and ag mechanics show teams and the
chapter conducting team. She also previously served as president of the Cuthand
4-H Club, participating as a member of
the club’s livestock show team for eight
years. While in high school, Purviance
was named to the Distinguished Honor
Roll each year. She was a National Honor
Society officer and served as varsity
cheerleader captain.
Michael Payne Whatley is
a recent graduate of Odem High School
in Odem. He plans to attend Texas A&M
University next fall, studying plant and
environmental soil science. While in high
school, Whatley was an active member
of the Odem FFA Chapter, serving as
president and participating in public
speaking, land judging, ag mechanics
and radio broadcasting competitions.
He was an active showman for eight
years, and raised poultry, swine and commercial heifers. A varsity football and
baseball player, he was named an AllDistrict (second team) Receiver and an
All-District (first team) Pitcher, and was
selected to the All-State Academic Team,
Elite level. Whatley volunteered for four
summers with Sea City Work Camp.
Banking at
Your Fingertips
At
Texas Farm Credit, we
strive to provide the best
products and services to
our members, including helpful cash management products.
Our Ag Banking Online service and Ag
Banking mobile application offer two great
ways to manage your accounts 24/7, whenever it’s most convenient. All it takes is a
computer or an Apple or Android smartphone or tablet to:
• Make loan payments from your business
or personal checking account
• Transfer funds from your Texas Farm
Credit loan accounts to your business or
personal checking account, or transfer
funds internally between your Texas
Farm Credit accounts
• Set up real-time, future or recurring
transactions
Farm Credit employees visited George Washington’s Virginia home and plantation, Mount
Vernon, on the trip. Mike Stankovich is front row, center, in the orange shirt.
The Flow of Farm Credit Funds
Mike Stankovich Participates in Farm Credit Leadership Program
T
he funds that Texas Farm Credit lends to farmers and ranchers follow a unique
path. This past summer, Mike Stankovich, Beaumont branch manager, met
some of the bond dealers, financial experts and policymakers responsible for the
smooth and continuous flow of funds from Wall Street to your farm or ranch, when he
participated in the Farm Credit Association Leadership Program.
Hosted by the Farm Credit Bank of Texas, the annual program takes Farm Credit employees to financial and policy organizations in the New York City area and Washington, D.C.,
for four days.
Landscapes sat down with Mike to talk about his experience.
Landscapes: What were the highlights of the trip?
Mike: Some of the highlights of the trip included the trip to Mount Vernon, Va., to tour
George Washington’s home and also the privilege to meet with the other great people that
attended from associations within our district.
What did visiting the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation or the
Farm Credit Administration teach you about the Farm Credit System?
• Track your account history, including
your loan payments, online transactions,
patronage and stock in the association
• Send and receive secure messages
regarding your accounts
• See branch locations and hours
If you already use Ag Banking Online,
you can get access to the same features
on your mobile device by downloading
our free app at the iTunes App Store or the
Google Play Store. To use either service
for the first time, simply request access
through your branch office or online at
www.TexasFCS.com.
Texas Farm Credit understands how important your cash flow is to the success of your
business. That’s why we offer several other
convenient services to help you manage
your financial transactions.
If you are not already using our cash management products, give us a call to discuss
how they might benefit you and your
business.
The trip allowed me to get a better understanding of the different parts that make up the
Farm Credit System and how they contribute to the overall purpose.
Which legislators (or staff) did you visit?
We met with the staff members for Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz. We also had an
in-person visit with Congressman John Ratcliffe. I felt like the meetings went very well,
with engaging questions from both sides.
TEXAS FARM CREDIT
New Tyler Office
The lender opened for business at the new location
— just off of Kinsey Drive
between Loop 323 and Rice
Road — in late June.
Open for Business!
Texas Farm Credit Celebrates With Open House
and Ribbon Cutting
“We’re delighted to offer
customers this new, spacious
location to conduct business,”
said Kyle Watts, Texas Farm
Credit branch manager in
Tyler. “We are always looking
for ways to better serve our
customers.”
Representatives from the
City of Tyler and the Tyler
Area Chamber of Commerce
attended the event, along with
local real estate and accounting professionals. Also on
hand were Texas Farm Credit
Board Chairman Bobby
Hobson and senior managers
Texas Farm Credit Services celebrates the opening of the new Tyler office at 1307 Dominion Plaza.
from the co-op’s Robstown
headquarters — Chief
Executive
Officer
Mark Miller, Chief Credit
exas Farm Credit Services celSet on 1.2 acres, the 8,668-square-foot
Officer
John
O’Brien
and Chief Financial
ebrated the move of its Tyler
office building offers ample parking space
Officer
Keith
Ibrom.
branch and administrative offices
and has a large conference room for meetto a more convenient, central location with ings. It will serve as a one-stop shop for
More than 150 customers, guests and
a ribbon-cutting ceremony and an open
all of the co-op’s lending services, includemployees were served barbecue from
house for customers on July 22. The rural
ing its mortgage division, Texas Country
local restaurant Stanley’s Famous Pit Barlending cooperative’s new office address is
Mortgage.
B-Q and, to beat the heat, icy treats from a
1307 Dominion Plaza, Tyler, Texas 75703.
snow cone truck.
T
What Talented Customers and Staff!
Texas Farm Credit’s 4th Annual Photo Contest a Winner
1st
T
he fourth annual Texas Farm Credit photo contest encouraged customers and employees from the Texas Farm
Credit service area to submit photos of crops, livestock,
farm families, wildlife and outdoor scenery. The large variety of
beautiful photos we received will help build a 2016 monthly calendar that illustrates our region’s rich diversity.
Texas Farm Credit thanks all those who submitted photos, and we
encourage customers to start shooting photos now for next year’s
competition.
TEXAS FARM CREDIT
2nd
3rd
First place went to Joe Hopkins, Texas Farm Credit controller,
who received a $500 cash award for his picturesque image of his
90-year-old father-in-law driving a tractor after a recent rain, with
a double rainbow accenting the horizon in Luling, Texas.
Abby Crawford, credit analyst at Texas Farm Credit, placed second
with her image of her daughter Cameron with her cow, Lil’ Mia, in
Sandia, Texas.
The third-place award went to Kyle McManus of Kingsville, Texas,
for his photo of the sun setting behind a wind farm in South Texas.
6
LANDSCAPES
Christopher Sherman
Rethinking
the Possible
A Texas family finds new ways to make a living from cows
and corn, and continue the farm for future generations.
lack-and-white spotted Holsteins
were once a common sight in
the gently rolling countryside of
Lavaca County, Texas. That was
nearly four decades ago, when 20
or so dairies operated in this area
of south-central Texas. Now, the only herd
of dairy cattle in the county is the herd of
sweet-faced, big-eyed Jerseys that graze the
pastures at Four E Dairy near Moulton.
“That’s the only way for someone like us
to make it. We’ve had to diversify,” says
Elyse Chaloupka, who runs the dairy and
farming operation with her husband,
Eugene, sons Chad and Scott, and Eugene’s
brother Erwin.
In addition to their dairy, the Chaloupkas
lease and own 2,100 acres on which they
graze their 450 milking cows and 325
replacement heifers. They also grow their
own corn, silage and hay.
Changing Breeds
Four E Dairy dates back to the early 1960s,
when Eugene and Erwin’s father, the late
Ernest Chaloupka Sr., partnered with
them and their brother,
Ernest Jr., to expand his
existing Holstein operation on land settled by his
great-grandfather in 1868.
Ernest Jr. later started a
paint contracting business, leaving Eugene, Elyse
and Erwin to take over the
farm. In 1999, Eugene and
Elyse’s son Chad joined
the operation full time,
followed by their younger
son Scott this past year.
Sheryl Smith-Rodgers
Surviving in the volatile dairy industry
hasn’t been easy for the Chaloupka family,
who owns the dairy. Drought years and
turbulent markets knocked out other dairies. Instead of giving up, the Chaloupkas
switched from Holsteins to Jerseys, literally
put the cattle out to pasture, tapped into
the raw milk market, and created a corn
maze business that draws thousands of
visitors every fall.
This year the Chaloupka family chose “Love Where You Live”
as the theme of their Rocky Creek Maze, left, located near
Moulton, Texas. Above, three of their 450 Jersey cows show
their curious nature.
Volatile milk prices made
the 1990s rough years, but
the dairy remained afloat.
In 2000, when dairy
economists were predicting the demise of small
dairies, the family bought
more Holsteins. But their
W I N T E R 2 0 1 5 7
goal of increasing to 500 cows just created
more headaches.
“If Chad hadn’t come back to the farm, we
would have been forced to sell,” Eugene
says. “Then in 2005, he talked us into going
back into Jerseys because they tolerate the
heat much better. They don’t produce as
much milk as Holsteins, but their butterfat
and protein are higher.”
The family purchased 100 head of Jerseys,
following in the footsteps of Ernest Sr.,
who milked Jerseys when he first entered
the dairy business in 1947. They also
started breeding out the Holstein genetics
of their herd by crossing Jersey bulls with
Holstein cows.
knew he’d return to the family farm. He
and his wife, Niki, have one son, Landon,
who they want to raise on the farm.
“It’s a way of life, not a job,” Chad says.
“Farming is what I always wanted to do.
I’ve worked here since I was little, milking
cows before school and raking feed in the
summer.”
He introduced new technology to the
farm, including a computerized monitoring system with pedometers on each
animal.
“We knew everything about our cows,”
he recalls. “When it worked, the system
was great. But when it didn’t, talk about a
headache! We finally got rid of it.”
Sheryl Smith-Rodgers
Chad, who earned a dairy science degree
from Texas A&M University, says he always
Weathering Tough Times
Then came 2009. Dairy prices nosedived,
and drought conditions persisted. Once
again, the Chaloupkas feared they might
lose their land.
“The price of milk wasn’t enough to pay
for feed, much less anything else,” Elsye
recalls. “We kept borrowing while everyone
else dipped into their equity. We lost three
or four dairies that year in Lavaca County.”
To provide extra capital, Scott borrowed
from Capital Farm Credit in La Grange
and bought 33 acres of the family’s land.
Additionally, Texas Farm Credit restructured the dairy’s financing.
“The Chaloupkas are wonderful people
who have farming in their hearts,” says
A Cornfield that
amazes
Courtesy of Four E Dairy
The Chaloupka family, left to right: Eugene, Elyse, Kim, Eli, Isaiah, Scott and Chad
The prep work takes weeks, but the payoff ’s big
when Rocky Creek Maze opens every fall at the
Chaloupka (pronounced “ha-loop-ka”) farm
near Moulton, Texas. Thousands of visitors,
some from as far away as Houston, 115 miles to
the east, come for homegrown agritainment at
the weekend festival in October and November.
“It’s kept the family farm going, and everybody
has a good time,” says Ernest Chaloupka Jr. He
and his wife, Helen, partner with his brother
and sister-in-law, Eugene and Elyse, in overseeing the annual event. Everyone in the family
pitches in to make it happen.
What to See and Do
The festival’s star attraction is an 8-acre corn
maze featuring more than 2.5 miles of walking
trails. Even more popular is a half-mile haunted
trail that zigzags through 21 acres of towering
corn. Hay rides, barrel train rides, slides and
other activities add to the fun. Special events
Milking cows enjoy lush spring pastures at Four E Dairy.
8
LANDSCAPES
“That’s when everything began to work,”
Chad says. “The milk industry might say
we’re not progressive, but we’re progressive
in our own way. We’ve gone back to the
old ways, and they’re working.”
include a benefit race, an antique tractor
show and dairy demonstrations.
veterans, first responders, churches, country
music and, most recently, rural Texas.
But no matter when they come, visitors
always learn about farming.
How to Make a Maze
“We’re different from most corn mazes
because we have ag demonstrations,” Elyse
says. “We give farm tours and presentations on the different uses for corn. On
Dairy Day, we have milking demonstrations and hay rides through our freestall barn.”
How the Maze Came to Be
Eugene proposed the moneymaking idea
to his family in 2002, after reading articles
about corn mazes. To learn more, they
toured mazes in Hondo, Donna and other
Texas towns. In 2007, ready to launch their
own maze business, the four attended a
conference in Seattle, Wash., hosted by
Brett Herbst with The MAiZE, a Utahbased consulting company.
That fall, the Chaloupkas hired Herbst to
design a “Farming in Texas” maze. He also
came to the farm and cut the cornfield.
Since then, the family has cut its own
mazes, but continues to work with Herbst
to develop its annual maze designs. Their
designs have honored their farm and dairy,
WINTER 2015
At noon every day, the first batch of 16
Jerseys files into the Four E’s herringbonestyle milking parlor. Two farmhands milk
up to 65 cows an hour in one six-hour
shift. A second shift starts at midnight.
“We have two permits — raw and commercial,” Chad explains. “We milk our
raw-milk cows first, which is 25 percent of
our herd. Then we milk our commercial
cows. We can milk our raw cows under
our commercial permit, but not vice versa.
That saves us time.”
From start to finish, strict safety and sanitation practices are followed throughout
the milking process. Each cow produces
approximately 40 pounds of milk.
Using a computer program, Herbst maps
out a maze’s design, which is separated into
sections, plotted on grids, and printed out on
separate pages of paper.
In the field, the Chaloupkas plant the corn in
30-inch perpendicular rows. This crisscross
pattern prevents maze-goers from seeing
through the rows. When the corn is 6 to 12
inches tall, the Chaloupkas spray-paint the
design in the field and then go back and
cut the path out.
Rocky Creek Maze is open weekends in
October and November, and closes
the Sunday before Thanksgiving.
For more information, go to
rockycreekmaze.com.
S ee more maze photos and
video at findfarmcredit.com/
seemore.
Kanokwalee Pusitanun
Christopher Sherman
Refinancing wasn’t enough, though.
In August 2015, Scott left his position of 10
Inspired by a fellow dairyman, the family
years as a fedbuilt a pureeral agriculbred Jersey
The milk industry might say we’re not
research
herd that
progressive, but we’re progressive in our tural
technician to
they chose
own way. We’ve gone back to the old ways, join the dairy.
to graze on
their existing
and they’re working.” – Chad Chaloupka “I came back
pastures rather
because I
than feed in
wanted to keep the farm going,” Scott says.
a confined yard. They also applied for a
“I grew up in the country and wanted my
raw milk permit, and they changed their
boys to have that, too.” He and his wife,
breeding program, switching from artifiKim, have twin sons, Eli and Isaiah, with a
cial insemination to natural service with
third child expected this fall.
quality bulls.
The Milking Process
Sallie Yeag
er
John Carpenter, a Texas Farm Credit vice
president, who handled the loan. “It’s
amazing how they’ve been able to pass the
farm from one generation to the next.”
A hay slide, above, and barrel-train
are part of the fun at Rocky Creek
Maze. Some of the other attractions include hay rides, a butterfly
garden and duck races.
9
The raw milk is piped to a chilled
1,000-gallon tank. Three times a week,
Elyse and two employees hand-bottle the
milk into half-gallon and one-gallon plastic jugs. Twice weekly, they also make and
bottle 60 quarts of cream, using a cream
separator with 32 disks.
“It takes an hour to make cream and two
hours to clean up,” Elyse says.
Vertically Integrated
Large-volume customers from Austin,
Victoria and other cities come to the farm
to purchase the dairy’s raw-milk products, which are kept in a walk-in cooler.
Drive-by customers buy goods from a
sliding-door refrigerator housed in a
portable building on the farm.
“We are vertically integrated,” Chad says.
“That means we produce, bottle and sell
our raw milk products directly from the
farm to consumers so we can set our own
prices.” A gallon of raw milk sells for
$6.50, a pint of light cream, $4.
a business owned by Andre and Jillian
Cudin, cheesemakers from Victoria. The
couple plans to purchase raw milk from
the dairy and make artisanal mozzarella
and other cheeses.
“The new facility will give us an added
use for our milk,” Elyse says, “and another
way to diversify so we can keep our farm
going.” n SSR
For more information, go to fouredairy.com.
This fall, the Chaloupkas will add a
cheese-making room to accommodate
Sheryl Smith-Rodgers
The commercial milk is piped into a
chilled 5,000-gallon tank, which is emptied
every other morning by an 18-wheeler
from Lone Star Milk Producers Inc. The
cooperative purchases the dairy’s milk and
sells it to a nationally known processor for
pasteurization and bottling.
Janet Hunter
Replacement heifers at Four E Dairy, which has
both commercial and raw-milk permits
10
LANDSCAPES