On October 26, the Carolina Farm Credit board of directors held an organizational meeting. Board members elected Joseph A. Lail of Shelby as chairman and Mark A. Bray of Lawsonville as vice chairman.  

Joseph A. Lail (Joe), 56, is a grain (corn, wheat, & soybeans) and beef cattle farmer in Shelby. He is also co-owner/secretary/treasurer of Lail Hardware & Garden Center. Lail has served on the Carolina Farm Credit board since 1997 and also serves on the Carolina Farm Credit Board Compensation, Audit, and Executive Committees. In addition to the Carolina Farm Credit board, Lail serves on the board of the Cleveland County Farm Bureau and is a member of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, where he serves on the Long Range Planning Committee and is a former deacon.

Mark A. Bray, 53, is the owner/operator of Ridgecrest Farm in Lawsonville, a beef cattle, stocker/feeder calf, and chicken breeder house operation. He is also co-owner of Bray Family Farms, a dairy operation. Bray has served on the Carolina Farm Credit board since 2003 and also serves on the Carolina Farm Credit Board Governance, Executive, and Compensation committees. Bray is also a member of the NC Cattlemen’s Association, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and Northwest Junior Livestock Show and Sale, and Peter’s Creek Baptist Church.

Carolina Farm Credit is a stockholder-owned cooperative providing short, intermediate, and long-term financing to full and part-time farmers and agricultural-related businesses and also provides financing for the construction and purchase of homes in 54 counties through 36 service centers.  Other financial services available are credit life insurance, crop insurance, appraisal services, leasing programs and financial planning.

Carolina Farm Credit serves over 8,900 members with loans outstanding totaling more than $1.4 billion.  The association’s territory covers the western half of North Carolina, with service centers located in Albemarle, Asheboro, Asheville, Boone, Burnsville, Carthage, Concord, Ellerbe, Graham, Hendersonville, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Lenoir, Lexington, Lincolnton, Marshall, Mocksville, Monroe, Murphy, Newton, Pilot Mountain, Reidsville, Roxboro, Rural Hall, Salisbury, Shelby, Siler City, Sparta, Spindale, Statesville, Taylorsville, Wadesboro, Waynesville, Wilkesboro, Yadkinville, and Yanceyville.
Directors for Carolina Farm Credit are Joseph A. Lail, Chairman, Shelby; Mark A. Bray, Vice-Chairman, Lawsonville; John M. Barnard, Statesville; E. Bernard Beck, Seagrove; W. Rex Bell, Statesville; Herbert R. Cheeks, Hayesville; David M. Coltrane, Pleasant Garden; W. Steve Love, Graham; Bobby J. “Bud” Matthews, East Bend; Clark M. Newlin, Haw River; Thomas E. Porter, Jr., Concord;  Tony L. Ragan, Sanford; Lewis E. Smith, Lincolnton; Vickie N. Smitherman, East Bend; L. Kim Starnes, Salisbury; Dr. Alton Thompson, Summerfield.