Ben Burkett, State Coordinator of the Mississippi Association of Cooperatives, is more than just a success story for us (NRCS, Mississippi).  He has emerged as the heartbeat of the outreach initiative in this agency and serves as a powerful example and model for other farmers and landowners through his dedication, his leadership, his willingness to serve and participate and most of all, his humbleness.

Before NRCS, we were washing our greens in an old bath tub.  NRCS was an important part of a partnership that helped us to build the Processing Facility at the Indian Springs Cooperative.  With the help of NRCS we are now producing "value added" packaged produce and we can blast freeze.  In addition, we're benefited from wells, Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP), erosion control, switch grass, and Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP).