Sells Newman recently retired after over 40 years working in the Farm Credit system. Anyone who knows Sells, knows he cares about farmers, farms and Mississippi agriculture. He learned the importance of agriculture growing up on his family’s farm near Crystal Springs.

“My dad was in the lumber business and he had some cattle, and he had planted some cotton and I was kind of raised around it,” said Newman.  “It was an agriculture farm town, and I just really and truly loved it.  You know, just I really liked agriculture.  I always wanted to look at a career there.”

Sells likes to talk about his friends and even tell stories from the farm. He does not like to prop up his work or his role in helping move Mississippi agriculture forward over the last four decades.

“I don’t consider myself to be an ambassador, okay, and I don’t consider myself to be the face,” said Newman. “I certainly appreciate and I’m very humble that somebody chose me to this position.  That’s kind of not my style, but I guess it’s just how fortunate I’ve been to be surrounded and be in this type of industry today.”

So we decided to enlist the help of some of Sells’ closest friends to find out more about what made him so good at talking up agriculture.

“When I think of Sells, I think of someone who has strong passion.  He is passionate about agriculture, about farmers and seeing them have an opportunity to be successful and ensure that they have the resources they need to produce their crops from year to year, Sells brought that production and that commitment to serving them, and he had a way of communicating the needs of farmers first and foremost to the farmers,” said Dr. Mark Keenum, MSU President and longtime friend of Sells Newman.

“I could tell lots of stories about Sells, but some probably aren’t appropriate for this audience, so I’ll keep them professional,” said John Lundy, Newman’s long time friend and colleague.

“Sells and I have been buddies for, gosh, forty‑something years,” said Kipp Brown, Newman’s long time friend.

“Sells is well known in D.C. in the halls of Congress and I’ve not heard anyone say anything bad about Sells,” said Ted Kendall, Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation Central Mississippi Vice President and longtime friend of Newman.

From the State Capitol to our nation’s Capitol, Newman is known for getting the job done and uniting organizations as one voice for the betterment of all Mississippi agriculture.

“He’s been willingly to give up himself, give up his time, to travel to Washington, D.C., to walk the halls of Congress to meet with our congregational delegation to just reinforce the needs of Mississippi State University,” said Keenum. “And also to advocate for the farmer in this state for their needs, and he’s been just an absolutely outstanding representative and ambassador for Mississippi farmers and Mississippi agriculture.”

“Over Sells’ career, he was very good at building relationships both in Mississippi and in Washington,” said Lundy. “He’s always seen by his peers as somebody who knows what they were talking about and knew their business.”

“Sells had this idea.  He said, you know, we need to stand up for Ag and this was probably about ’90.  I would think 1990,” said Brown.  “He said, if we all speak with one voice and we work together and help each other, we can do more good.  So, he formed the Cornbread Coalition.”

“Sells cares about people and Sells really cares about agriculture,” said Kendall. “I understand that his job is working for the Farm Credit System, but Sells understands that agriculture in general has to flourish and do well for him to be successful and for his company to be successful.”

Newman is also known for his unique fashion sense…almost as much as his dedication to his work.

John Lundy: “Congress dresses sometimes on Wednesdays in seersucker suits.  When Sells was up there, he’d always have his seersucker suit way before Congress ever started that.”

Ted Kendall: “When we know we’re going to be with Sells, sometimes beforehand we try to guess how many shirts he might be wearing.”

Kipp Brown: “We call him GQ.  You may not even want to put this, but our little group, we’ll take bets.  Is he going to be two‑layer or three‑layer today?  Because he’ll have the Polo and then the shirt and then a vest, and then maybe a jacket.”

But one thing’s for certain, whether two or three layers, Sells Newman wore his heart on his sleeve for Mississippi agriculture.

“I was that fortunate to be around people and make relationships, I can’t tell you,” said Newman. “It just happened you know and it’s just, I think, agriculture people kind of shoulder to shoulder know how to look out after each other when it comes to it.”