In 1972, an up-and-coming rancher heard Hugh Arant, Sr. talk about agriculture in Mississippi and the special role Farm Bureau members played as the voice of agriculture. It was in that moment David Waide knew his life would take an interesting path.

“He was the one that inspired me to serve Farm Bureau as I did, and to strive to make this organization be more effective for rural people in the state,” Waide said.

From then on, this Clay County cattleman would lead his county Farm Bureau. He began making a name for himself as no-nonsense, honest and hard-working. These three traits helped him when he was elected the eighth president of the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation in 1996.

“I did work hard. I came up working pretty hard all my life. I just never broke the habit,” Waide said. “The thing about Farm Bureau that served as my driving force when I ran for election for the first time was the obvious role I always felt Farm Bureau should play in agriculture. And when I ran, I thought we weren’t fulfilling that role to the full extent.”

Many members see Waide as being the right leader for MFBF during a tumultuous time in history. During his 14-year-service as president, quite a few life-changing events happened, not only in the organization’s history, but as a nation as well.

One of these being 9/11.

The attack on the World Trade Center showed just how important maintaining a domestic food supply is to our nation’s security.

“I am a fan of us, as a nation, staying superior in food production and being able to export that product so that the farm community can benefit. We can secure the nation’s energy needs through agriculture if we make our mind up. Now, some people would argue that it’s not sustainable, but I would argue that it is. And, I don’t see why it’s not if we can get the resources to produce the crops it takes to produce the energy that we need. That’s what I’ve always thought.”

Then, the nation experienced one of the most devastating natural disasters on record – Hurricane Katrina. The Category 5 hurricane destroyed so much when it blew ashore in August 2005 that the Farm Bureau Insurance companies almost did not recover.

“We had $200 million more in insurance coverage than we’d ever needed, but we’d never had a Katrina. And nobody can tell what the next one will be.  So you’ve got to plan on worst case scenarios. I’m sure since I’ve left, there have been steps taken to do something about that. I think we have better footing now than we did when Katrina occurred.”

“The way Mr. Waide presented himself after Katrina was with strength,” current MFBF President Mike McCormick said. “We were going to figure out a way to make sure we get this done. Farm Bureau was and is too important to fail. He worked every day to make sure that we got a little bit better, and a little bit better, and thank goodness, today, we’re a much stronger company than we were even before Hurricane Katrina hit.”

Just like the day Waide heard Arant speak in 1972, McCormick, a cattleman from Jefferson County, knew he was called to be more for Mississippi agriculture after he heard Waide speak at an Annual Meeting.

“I was a really young county president in Jefferson County when I heard him. I was invited to come to the state convention in Jackson,” McCormick said. “It was the first time I’d seen Mr. Waide or heard him speak. I admired him because I could tell his heart was in the right place. You could see it in the way he went about his business. He always worked to help our farmers and this organization. I always knew we were in great hands when he was in charge.”

During his tenure as president, Waide also took a stand for agriculture at the state capitol, fighting for private property rights and the government’s taking of private property through eminent domain. Waide and MFBF staff gathered signatures over a two-year-period for Initiative 31 to appear on the November 2011 General Election ballot. The referendum passed, making Mississippi the 44th state to restrict eminent domain for private development.

“It wasn’t something that I could do by myself, but I knew to do it, you had to have people that understood what made agriculture work,” he said. “I set out to accomplish that, and I guess in the end, we ended up with a pretty good record. We were able to get things done with the legislature.”

In 2022, Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation’s centennial year, Waide says the organization is needed now more than ever.

“It’s got roots all over the state of Mississippi. There’s an office in every county. It’s got connections in Washington. It’s got superior legislative ability,” Waide said. “As much as I hate to admit that farmers can’t be independent, I know that we’ve got to work within the system and we can’t just go do what we want. I understand how the system works. Mike understands how the system works. You’ve got to have a unified voice to convey your message from the rural areas of this state. I think it’s just really important that we never lose touch with our members, even the ones that only participate in agriculture three times a day when they eat.”