Director Nominations

It's that time of year again when Yankee's Nominating Committee begins selecting director candidates for the elections in April 2012. There will be three elections, one director in each of the three regions. Each position is for a three year term. If you would like to be considered for nomination, please contact a member of the Nominating Committee at the numbers below or call your local branch.

Region #1 (Chittenden, Franklin, Grand Isle counties, Vt.; Essex and Clinton counties, N.Y.)
Arnold Mercy 802-326-4200
Wynn Paradee 802-524-4202
Mark Wrisley 518-963-4039

Region #2 (Caledonia, Essex, Lamoille, Orange, Orleans, Washington counties in Vt.; Coos and Grafton counties, N.H.)
Richard Hall 802-229-6342
Richard Martin 802-328-4120
Patrick Waterbury 802-785-4753

Region #3 (Addison, Bennington, Rutland, Windham, Windsor counties, Vt.; Cheshire and Sullivan counties, N.H.)
David Ainsworth 802-763-8017
Bruce Bascom 603-835-6361
Kim Harvey 802-483-6130

If you have any questions about the purpose or the procedures of the Nominating Committee, please contact John Peters, VP Operations at 800-639-3053.

You can find general information about the director nomination process and the role of directors on the Farm Credit Administration's web site.

Nicholas Bullock

Nick Bullock was recently hired as a Financial Services Representative in the White River Jct. office. He comes to Yankee with 10 years of extensive experience in income tax preparation and record keeping. His education includes a BA degree in Business from Lycoming College in Williamsport, PA.

Nick has spent some time in the UK including a semester at Oxford University (Westminster College). In his spare time Nick likes outdoors activities such as hunting and fishing and enjoys community involvement.

Sharon Perry

Sharon Perry started work as a Financial Services Assistant for the Association full time on October 5^th 2011. Prior to that she had worked part time in the appraisal department since July 2010. Sharon will be working out of the Chazy office in the tax and records program as well as continuing to assist with appraisals. Her past experience with bookkeeping will serve her well in her new role.

Sharon has two girls, Sierra and Tiffany and lives with husband Roy in Churubusco, NY. Outside of work she is an accomplished woodworker and enjoys a variety of arts and crafts.

FarmStart - Brandon Bucossi

Yankee recently made its second FarmStart investment to Brandon Bucossi of Randolph, VT:

(Photo from The Herald of Randolph, July 21, 2011 issue.)

Brandon, age 21, runs Cer-Krit Jerseys, a 60 cow dairy farm. He grew up in southern Vermont and was not involved in agriculture until he was a young teenager when he began helping a neighbor with haying and eventually took an interest in raising beef animals.

After high school he chose to go to Vermont Technical College to study Dairy Herd Management and graduated with his associate’s degree in 2009. After a year of working for other farmers, Brandon decided in May of 2010 to start farming on his own. He purchased 60 cows and found a farm in Randolph to rent. After a year of high culling he was faced with heading into the fall with lower cow numbers, making his operation less efficient. For this reason he turned to FarmStart and applied for an investment to purchase replacements.

Brandon is the type of business owner that FarmStart was designed for: skilled, young entrepreneurs that show promise of success. We look forward to working with Brandon in helping his business succeed so that he may have a strong future in Vermont’s dairy industry.

Brandon's FarmStart Advisor is Morgan Greenwood Rilling, a loan officer in the White River Jct. office.

FarmStart - Gleason/O'Rourke

Steven Gleason and his partner Michelle O’Rourke were Yankee Farm Credit’s first FarmStart investment.

In May Steven and Michelle started Gleason's Custom Spreading and Hauling in Derby, VT. With the help from a FarmStart investment they were able to purchase a truck with a sliding manure tank spreader, a forage box, and ag flotation tires.

Steven, age 23, has spent his life working around agriculture. He grew up on his parent’s organic dairy farm and still helps out whenever he can. He has spent the last several years working for a custom hire operation and a local maple sugaring operation. His hands-on experience makes him a great investment for the FarmStart program.

Steven runs the day-to-day activities of the business. Michelle assists him with managing his accounts, as well as working part-time and caring for their young son.

The FarmStart Advisor for Steven and Michelle is Kelly Richardson, a loan officer in the Newport office. In addition to being a financial advisor, Kelly helped Steven and Michelle consider an appropriate business structure for their enterprise.

Vermont Farm Disaster Relief Fund

The Vermont Farm Disaster Relief Fund was created by the Vermont Community Foundation (news release) and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture (news release) to help farmers affected by Tropical Storm Irene. Thanks to generous donors there is currently over $1 million available. Quick grants of up to $10,000 are available immediately. The deadline for applications is Friday, September 30. Applications are available here.

Vermont Ag Hall of Fame

Four individuals were inducted into the Vermont Agricultural Hall of Fame on August 31st at the Champlain Valley Exposition:

Robert E. Graf (deceased)
Frederick H. Webster
Ed Eurich (deceased)
Kenley Squier

Congratulations to the 2011 inductees to the Vermont Agricultural Hall of Fame!

(Click on image to enlarge.)

This was the 9th induction ceremony. Here is the program from the ceremony, which lists all of the past winners:

Cassie Osgood - Farm Credit Fellow

Cassie Osgood of New Haven, VT was in the St. Albans office the week of August 15-19 for her one week internship for the Farm Credit Fellows program. She has completed two years at Vermont Tech and is currently in her second year at UVM as part of the FARMS 2+2 program. She has been very active in 4-H and showing cattle for her family on Four Hills Farm.

Orleans County Fair

The 144th Orleans County Fair was held this month from Wednesday the 17th through Sunday the 21st at the fairgrounds in Barton, VT. This year featured the new world record setting of the largest Cadillac parade at 298 cars, the new Farm-to-Plate restaurant called The Farmers Table, fresh cheese curds made daily at the one-of-a-kind Dairy on the Moove traveling cheese plant, and many more exciting activities.

Yankee was represented at the fair by staff and recognized for its financial support via dairy show premiums, and the Dairy on the Moove project. Loren Petzoldt, Randy Smith, Clara Hall, and Kelly Richardson all made the time to stop in.

Clara was there to assist her family, Fairmont Farm and Dairy, as well as the East Montpelier Udderly Crazy 4-H Club. Pictured is Clara with her sister Isabel.

Kelly Richardson is a director for the Orleans County Fair.

Yankee Directors in the News

Two magazines have recently mentioned several Yankee directors.

Steve Taylor and his family were featured in the Spring 2011 edition of UNH Magazine Online. Steve graduated from UNH in 1962. All of us here at Yankee extend sincere condolences to Steve and his family on the recent death of Steve's wife, Gretchen—also a 1962 UNH graduate, shortly after the publication of that article.

The newest Yankee director, Paul Franklin, is also mentioned in the article about Steve Taylor.

Yankee Chairperson Paul Gingue and his family were featured in the Spring 2011 edition of Vermont Fences, published by Vermont Farm Bureau. (Not available online.) The article is about how the Gingue family farming operation expanded to accommodate four sons.

The same issue of Vermont Fences includes an article about former Yankee director Rupert Chamberlin and his wife Muriel. Rupert and Muriel recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Rupert is a past president of Vermont Farm Bureau. The current president of Vermont Farm Bureau, Clark Hinsdale III, is also a former Yankee director.