Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 8852 • Between Turnrows Melissa Coles of Farm Credit Midsouth remembers the impressions Mark Waldrip made on her as a member of their Board of Directors. “Mark is just good people! I love the way he carries on a conversation. Whether it’s a conversation you want to have or one you don’t, he always speaks with compassion, intelligence and understanding,” she says. “He’s very passionate about what he does, and that makes him a very good board member.” Kelly Phipps and Mark Waldrip first met in the field. Kelly was on the Waldrip farm helping a friend, Danny Ladd, who worked for Northrup-King plant a test plot when Mark pulled up in his truck and introduced himself. Conversation ensued as the two got to know each other better over the next few weeks. Mark says, “I realized that Kelly was unique and somehow or some way we had to work togeth- er, and I knew that there wasn’t anything about the rice business that Carl didn’t know. He has seen it all and done it all.” After discussing various options, Mark, Carl and Kelly decided to approach Sherman and ask him if he’d be interested in selling his business. Sherman remembers, “Mark and I were on the plant board together and I had got to be pretty good buddies with him. Carl had done business with Mark when he worked for Mr. Taylor, and after Carl came to work for me, he started buying seed from us. One day he came in and I said, ‘Mark your business is doing really well isn’t Mark Waldrip and Carl Phipps, February 1997, Freeport Market