President’s Message
By Paul Olson
Greetings from all of us at National Farmers Organization. By the time you read my column, we will be approaching the end of our fiscal year.
A huge thank you to all of our loyal producers and the efforts of our dedicated staff, from field representatives to our accountants, for another successful year.
We must also recognize all of our truckers that are a vital necessity to getting our milk, meat, and grain picked up and delivered. Last, but certainly not least, our hats off to all of the various entities that we have developed relationships with over the years.
By reaching out and collectively working with like-minded producer groups, we can benefit everyone involved.
Our final numbers will be released after our annual audit and will be available at our annual convention in March of 2023.
Just a bit of a prelude for fiscal 2022 shows that our gross sales will be up well over 100 million dollars over fiscal 2021, which was also up over 100 million dollars over fiscal 2020.
Remember, this tremendous growth has taken place under some of the most challenging times that our producers and your organization have ever endured.
Beginning in the spring of 2020, market conditions went from volatile to nearly non-existent in some parts of the country. Our livestock and dairy sectors were affected the most.
As I warned you in an earlier edition, I predicted the pandemic would have a long tail, and the result has been supply chain issues and particularly stressful hauling issues for our producers. With that said, it appears the trucking problems have begun to ease, at least somewhat.
Because of everyone’s tenacity and working together as a team, we have not only endured, but are showing some of the best growth in the history of our organization. If we can keep everything on track, we could hit one billion dollars in gross sales in the near future.
As good as that sounds, our number one goal is keeping our producers on the land by doing everything we can to help them be profitable. Our recent growth tells me that we have something that farmers need.
In summary, we cannot become complacent. The needs of today’s farmers are different from those of yesterday’s farmers, and the same is true for the farmers of tomorrow.
Amidst the atmosphere of today’s world, if you don’t embrace change, you are going backward. We cannot change the past, we can only learn from it.
May we all embrace the future and make it better for the agricultural producers that come behind us.
Until next time, be safe & may God bless.
