NFO-248 (AV10751): US Farm Report: Youth Accepts The Challenge

[music] hi everybody and welcome to us farm report my special guest today among others is Mr. Ken Stofferahn who is the director of the field staff Department of NFO can exactly what is the function of the field staff Department well stating it simply by our our function and the NFO is the membership arm of the organization we're responsible for expanding and getting new members into the organization well now having talked with some of your field personnel in the past two or three weeks I do know that one of the big jobs that your people have to do is recruiting now you recruit not only from among NFO members but you also recruit from the colleges across the country do you not yes we do we've made it a two-prong effort and we've gone on to a very aggressive recruiting program from within our nation's colleges and universities seeking the youth of our country and as well as within the ranks of our own organization so we're on a very aggressive recruiting campaign right well you know you and president Oren Lee Staley have often told me that you're so proud that NFO to be able to bring back to the farming industry some of the young creative talent across the country with all of the other businesses and industries needing college graduates don't you find yourself in a climate of competition for these young people they seek opportunities and other walks of life but we found one real significant factor from within the college kids and that is that a lot of them come from farm backgrounds but some of them do not but that if there is a chance or an opportunity to get back and be of service to agriculture they want this opportunity and they find NFO is that kind of a challenge and opportunity for them now your recruiting efforts at the college level right now necessitate a great deal of much harder work than in Pass because of just an increase in numbers and the field staff is that not correct straight what are you're increasing the field staff by well your triple we want to triple and quadruple yes and what we present they have and this this means a substantial increase or the next few months and years now we all know that people cost money so when you triple the field staff certainly you're going to be increasing costs how will these costs be paid it's supported solely by the membership dues of the organization well it's been a pleasure having you stopped by long enough to talk about the field staff and to give us this little bit of background Ken and now if you don't mind I'm going to start introducing to our audience some of these new recruits who will be helping with NFO in the field and perhaps eventually at the national level for example Terry Utley Terry how long have you worked for NFO now well I started to work for an apple in December of 1967 and often while I was in college I worked on a part-time basis and then in the summer sessions when I could now Terry as I understand it your title actually is executive assistant in the field staff department that's correct and what are your duties in this particular job my prime duty is to take the reports from the regional supervisors and I have approximately 27 that report in to me that have people working under them and the district field representative capacities now there are 27 of them who report in to you how many people work under them roughly somewhere in the neighborhood of 160 well you have a lot of people in actually sending you reports day by day don't you moving yes sir well let's look a little bit into your background Terry and find out just exactly how and why you arrived on the scene at NFO where's your home I home originally is in the western end of the state of Kentucky at Hopkins Kentucky we live about ten miles south of Hopkinsville which is about three miles from the Tennessee line what kind of a farm did you come from the prime operation we have there would be we used to raise cattle but we moved out of that it went into hogs and soybeans mmm somewhere in the neighborhood of four about 400 acres of corn that we have there now and some tobacco thrown in for good measure how big a family do you come from Terry I have one sister well then you're the only man outside of your father in the family you might very well say that and I presume that really you wanted to stay in some aspect of agriculture didn't absolutely I would rather farm than do any other occupation that I know of but as the the present situation the present economic situation it is not only economically unsound but it is almost senseless yes for youth and people such as myself to remain on the farm you did now go on to college where did you attend college I went to the University of Kentucky into Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green what were your majors I started out in political science but I moved into agricultural economics and then basically economics in history mm-hmm and these were the my prime fields of study well how did you get to NFO it's kind of interesting how it all started it started one night when I came in from the University of Kentucky and my dad came in from a meeting down in southern Tennessee somewhere and he came in about two o'clock in the morning and he said are you interested in working for NFO he woke me up and I said yes and he said well tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock I want you to be in Nashville Tennessee so the next morning at 8 o'clock I was in Nashville and I went through a two-day rather intensive training school with mr. Tom Norman and immediately following that I went on the road in Western Kentucky and have been working ever since when did you arrive at national headquarters in Corning I have been here at the national office since about the middle of January enjoying it certainly am but it's rather interesting in the fact that of the caliber of people we have here at the national office and of the caliber of work that is performed here in Corning now how much college did you actually finish alright I have three and a half years of actual college three and a half years that's right how many hours credit hours do you think it would require for you to get your degree it would take somewhere in the neighborhood of 18 to 24 [unclear] well you're talking now about maybe a very heavy semester or two light semesters a light school year to go ahead and get your degree how do you feel about finishing well there's coming a day when I'm very well sure that I will finish but under the present situation the present economic situation that agriculture is facing I think it is very important that I continued the job of working for NFO because I think that 12 o'clock is almost here for agriculture today and that we have to work fast if we're going to save the family farm and private enterprise system so you want to do first things first absolutely save the farm save agriculture and then maybe you will have a little time to finish up that degree absolutely my sentiments completely well now you have been on the scene at NFO long enough to make some comments I'm sure about the bringing into the organization young capable people with agricultural backgrounds what do you think of these people generally you see coming in and joining some of the highest caliber of people I find in our statement progressive farmers are dawning NFO is probably one of the most truthful statements we have ever had within the NFO we have had many many people joining in fo of course here recently younger people people larger farmers it seems to be a higher caliber of personnel joining NFO and working for NFO a very definite trend toward the complete leaders of Agriculture Terry may I just complement you in this manner to close if you typify the kind of lung young leadership coming to NFO I have greater hopes for the organization than I ever have before and I mean that sincerely well thank you very much bill I appreciate the compliment my next guest today is Larry Yaw who comes from Terre Haute Indiana Larry I guess everybody has heard of your home territory Terre Haute Indiana what is the name Terre Haute mean well they give it the name hotspot of the Midwest Sin City but I think Indianapolis is always sort of plugging away at us at that point because that's where all the yeah bad rumors come from well now Terre Haute translates what literally it means high ground high ground is is it high ground in your area well it's supposed to be the highest point in the Wabash Valley it has the Wabash River there uh-huh now Larry you indeed have a farm background do you not yes I come from the rural area small farm my folks he's doing how big a farm did you grow up on it was sixty acres well now in terms of today's farming that one is a little one isn't it yes it is quite little well where did you go to school I went to a small county school in Blackhawk Indiana which is in the southern part of Eagle County and I enjoyed going in that school it's no longer in existence its consolidated now like everything I guess they have to put together things to make it a better school all right did you you say you enjoyed going to the smaller school by comparison for example with perhaps attending high school at Terre Haute why did you enjoy the smaller school Larry well there I was able to participate in sports and if I'd went to a larger school I've tried when he made the team well now what kind of sports did you participate in you're kind of a small fellow right I have played basketball did you right by golly it proves I guess that height still doesn't rule the game because you're you're how tall 5'4" 5'4" yes I played a guard spotter well I would presume that actually if you were in the bigger school like Terre Haute that you might not have made the team well this is true then yeah well you didn't go directly from high school to college did you no tell us about that well I went into a two-year training period to become an x-ray technician and after completing that I was certified by the AMA and was registered radiological technician and I've worked at that job ever since and after about four years out of school I decided that this wasn't enough education so I enrolled with Indiana State University at Terre Haute Indiana and then this is where you took your degree right you in other words sustained yourself through your college for years by working as a an x-ray technician right what sort of hours did you work and how did you work this in with your class schedule well I I was always on the night shift or evening shift at the hospital which was 2:00 to 11:00 and evening and always had to schedule my courses in the morning or early in the afternoon so that I can still still maintain my job at the hospital they used to get a little upset once in a while when I was late but after they saw that I was gonna go ahead and finish college they were kind of for me then of course they were how early were some of your classes in the morning well in regular session I used to have some eight o'clock classes so you'd get off work at the hospital at 11:00 after were having been there nine hours and then you'd have to get up and make an 8 o'clock class the next morning at times right well I think you worked hard to achieve your education in here to be commended for it thank you now let me ask you about this matter of recruitment we hear a great deal about recruitment of college graduates of course the national farmers organization is very active in recruiting among the colleges all across the country tell me how recruiting works at your school well the University there has their college Placement Bureau which is operated by the by the university itself and companies seeking students to interviews will come to the Placement Bureau and and tell a Placement Bureau that they are going to be there on a certain day to interview prospective employees and they in turn the Placement Bureau has a mailing list and they mail out the mailing list do they the graduate students and and seniors and you can run down the list and if you're interested in this particular company you go and sign up try to get us a sign up date or the hour that you're going to sign up well in other words the graduate actually chooses the industry in which he finds an interest rather than the industry coming to certain students yes yes okay now in your case Larry how many interviews did you have I conducted I think 12 or 13 among them was an interview with NFO right and as it turns out NFO won or you won or maybe both won perhaps that's the ideal situation why did you choose NFO well for one I've always had an interest in farming and been a sympathizer for the for the farmer because of coming from the farm and my ambition would be to farm but this is probably out of the question this day and age so I thought that was not being able to farm I could at least work with the farmers and trying to help their situation mm-hmm well I think it speaks well for NFO that a young man with your background and education chose NFO in competition with will say 11 or 12 other industries and I hope that you'll be happy in the field you've chosen well how do you feel about your indoctrination here I think college was a picnic compared to this it's pretty tough right what would you call it a crash program well I would call it that really and you have to learn about the various procedures and agreement mm-hmm and I never saw it before I got here it is you have to learn it pretty quickly well you have to I guess take a week's time and cram home a great deal of information you will find necessary in your fieldwork in the future I just hope that you and your associates in this new group of college man joining NFO will be able to retain it that's the important thing well Larry will you go back to Indiana to work as a member of the field staff I plan to was this incidentally a factor in your choosing NFO yeah it was a good point because most the companies I've interviewed they wanted to send me to Detroit and Philadelphia and all over the country which I didn't particularly want to move out of the area I live in I think it's only wise on the part of NFO that they would send somebody like you back home to work because it's obvious that you must have a lot of contacts there and you must know the territory so to speak I hope I know the territory is fit that way Larry it's been a pleasure having you on us farm report and may I wish you well in this new undertaking thank you now I would like for you to meet John Bostick of Water Valley Kentucky John what part of Kentucky is Water Valley in Water Valley is the in the western most part of Kentucky just a little bit east of the Mississippi River and just a little bit north of Tennessee right in that corner you do have a farm background you were raised on the farm weren't you yes I was I've been raised I was raised on the farm all my life and I'm interested in what the farm has for me how big a family do you come from John I have a sister my mother and father is four mm-hmm now is your dad a member of NFO yes he is he's been a member since 1967 how big a farm do you have well how big is the home place and what kind of farming do you do there when our home place is approximately 160 acres but we rent an additional 450 and our primary cash crop is soybeans and then we raise hogs to supplement that what college are you attending I go to school at Murray State University Murray State now where is that that is in Murray Kentucky Murray Kentucky and what is your actual major John I am majoring in agricultural business well what actually attracted you to NFO did you come to NFO as a new member of the field staff Department as a result of something you might have learned in your background from your father about the organization or did you get your knowledge about NFO otherwise well I think it goes back further than that even I- I was raised on the farm and I've been familiar with what the farmer has had to deal with over a period of time and plus my education in college made me aware of how these things are changed and how they're brought about and the farmer is caught in the price squeeze between increased prices on what he has to buy to produce and a lesser price that goes down or stays the same for what he sells and I don't think this is right there should be a stabilization in in this area in some way mm-hmm well then I infer from your attitude and from what you say that this is almost a cause to you a challenge and a cause because you believe so strongly and in what NFO is attempting to do to get the farmer a better price a fair price for his commodities yes it is a challenge and it is a cause it has never been accomplished before and it's never been attempted to the scale that we are doing it now or to the success that we are doing and I believe it's there's a great challenge in this field to bring about this stabilization of price for the farmer so that he can respect decent buying power like labor and industry and this is my cause that I am I'm fighting and working for now during the few days you have been at national headquarters of NFO in Corning in the indoctrination course what have you learned well to tell you what I've learned would take a lot longer than I think we have here it's a real comprehensive course that they have given us in in marketing and collective bargaining and how and what the farmer should do to better increase his price and to make his income more stable and compete with the other industries this is what they are teaching us not only exactly how to do it but how to let the farmer know how to do it it's our job to go out and tell them and help them what kind of a routine have you had at Corning I mean have you had long days that extend into night yes definitely our routine starts about 8 o'clock in the morning and in some time as late as 9:30 or quarter to 10:00 at night and this is a with just a few short breaks for lunch and supper I presume that even though you have spent as you've just said very long days that you are aware that the people here at the national level of NFO spend this kind of a day as a routine thing you know I've noticed this there are people that work when I come in and there are people at work when I leave they just don't work by the hour you see one man I talked to I went in his office he works in the field staff department here and he pointed to his clock on the wall and it was broken it was not running and he said well since my clock broke I just don't know when to quit working so I work all day John I want to wish you a great deal of good luck in this career that you have chosen for yourself are you going to go back now to Kentucky to work as a member of the field staff yes I am going actually to the home territory that's right I am I am still in college and I'm gonna supplement my college with work in this field how much school do you have yet to accomplish for a degree approximately two years two more years but I don't I don't think I can wait long enough till I get a degree fore I start work I believe we should start work today now John thank you very much for being my guest on US farm report thank you my next guest is George Ponder of Fayetteville Arkansas George you know usually you hear about people from the Midwest for example or for that matter from all parts of the country being transplanted to California but you've done just the opposite in your lifetime haven't you you started out as a Californian and where did you come from California Alhambra California and to what part of the country did you did you move Northwest Arkansas Fayetteville did you go through elementary and high school in California yes I did did you go to the University of Arkansas yes that's correct how much college have you actually had in terms of hours oh a little over a hundred exactly how many I'd have to get out my transcript and check how did you as an urban dweller George get all of this interest in agriculture well as I said when we moved back to Arkansas Arkansas is a tremendous poultry area mm-hmm we'd live- I lived in the community with poultry growers and I associated with them I became acquainted with their problems going to school I've talked with other people from other areas and I was approached and come was informed about the NFO and what they were doing and I decided that this is an organization that is growing and it's going to do something so the farmer will quit competing against himself and this is something he's done ever since that he started raising grain or anything well I think that you're right and I think that the NFO is undoubtedly the only farm organization that is interested basically in one thing and that is to get the farmer a fair price for his commodities to take him out of the category being a beggar at the marketplace and giving him an opportunity to price is commodities fairly and to get fair money for what he raises that's correct that's very correct be able for the farmer to take his place in the economy of the nation now you're going out as a member of the field staff of NFO you're going to work in Arkansas this I'm not positive of I think so but I do not know you don't know at this time where you're going to go that's correct well you've been here at Corning Iowa at national headquarters and an indoctrination program how many days have you been here so far three days well what do you think of it very impressive so effective organization and it looks efficient I'll have to go into it further before I can make up a complete opinion now you intend I guess someday to pursue your education and achieve your degree that's true and perhaps you can do so while you work yes this is possible through correspondence courses and extension courses yeah this is quite possible this is something I have in mind I talked to one of the other fellows earlier on today show George about what the young man is looking for today in a career I mentioned that statistics prove as a result of interviews that young men are looking for such things as security status money of course is there something more that perhaps you're looking for than these these factors those factors are very important but there's something else too I want to leave something that I can say that I've done my part in a creating a better society this may sound like something old-fashioned or dug up out of a book but it's true may I just interrupt you and I want you to pursue but may I interrupt to say that it is old-fashioned what you're saying because we don't hear enough of this in this time in our lives and it's refreshing and very good to hear this coming from you so go ahead with it well I believe that that might sum it up the person can do something that he's happy in doing and achieve goals for himself and his family and do it so that all can benefit from it I think he could chalk up his life as a success thank you very much George for being a guest on us farm report and may I extend our best wishes to you for a most happy time with NFO my special guests on us farm report have been Ken Stofferahn the director of the field staff of NFO and four young college men recently assigned to the field staff US farm report is seen on this station each week at this same time until we meet again so long everybody [music]