Farm Credit Update

American AgCredit merges with Farm Credit of the Heartland

American AgCredit has announced the merger with Farm Credit of the Heartland, based in Wichita, Kansas, effective November 30, 2009. The merger will make the joint Association the 7th largest Farm Credit cooperative in the U.S., totaling $4.8 billion in assets, and creating a combined customer base of 6,430 members. [News release]

'Meals in the Field' a hit in Illinois

Farm Credit Services of Illinois is sponsoring the annual “Meals in the Field” program this week to help promote farm safety – but it doesn’t end there. Throughout the south 60 counties of Illinois, representatives of Farm Credit Services of Illinois will be busy promoting farm safety throughout the harvest season.

With four gas grills on wheels, Mike Lonergan,Vice President of the Jacksonville branch Farm Credit Services of Illinois explains, the Fall harvest grill tour reaches a lot of farmers. [Read the story and listen to the audio at Brownfield]

Library receives $5,000 grant from AgStar

The AgStar Fund for Rural America recently awarded a $5,000 grant to the Watonwan County Library. The grant will be used to purchase four computers, software and a printer for the library’s technology lab. More from the St. James Plaindealer.

Carolina Farm Credit couples attend Cooperative Workshop in Pawley’s Island, SC

Carolina Farm Credit recently sponsored three couples attending the Cooperative Education Conference at Pawleys Plantation Golf and Country Club in South Carolina.  The three couples were:  Luke and Meredith Knox from Cleveland; Luke and Kathy Beam from Lawndale; and Jeff and Mary Cornwell from Lawndale.  Thirty-four couples from North and South Carolina and Georgia gathered to learn how cooperative businesses are organized and maintained, how they differ from other types of corporations and what economic and service benefits they offer to member-owners.

Luke and Meredith Knox were selected by the other North Carolina couples as Outstanding Couple for 2009. Dale and Melinda Davis were selected as alternate couple. Luke is a farmer on the Knox Hill Farm with the dairy replacement heifer operations. Meredith is a medical assistant. They are co-op members with Southern States, Energy United and Carolina Farm Credit. They are both active with the Holstein Club in Rowan and the West Rowan FFA alumni. The Knoxes are invited to attend the Cooperative Council’s annual meeting next year and serve as Host Couple for the 2010 Couples Conference.

The Cooperative Councils brought together a group of outstanding cooperative leaders from around the country to serve as session facilitators for this year’s conference: Craig Scroggs, USDA-Rural Development, Georgia; Dr.Tommie Shepherd, The University of Georgia, Athens; and Joy Upchurch, AgFirst Farm Credit Bank, Columbia, S.C.

The couples also met in small groups with cooperative leaders representing farm supply/marketing, electric, dairy and financial cooperatives to learn about the manner in which various types of cooperatives provide services to their members. Jamie Cantrell with Dairy Farmers of America led the dairy sessions; Rich Schneider with Southern States Cooperative led the farm supply/marketing sessions; Gale Cutler, Georgia EMC, led the electric sessions; and Christy Smith with AgSouth Farm Credit, Miriam Pflug with AgSouth Farm Credit, and Mary Dickson with ArborOne Financial led the financial sessions.

Others on the program included Dick Schermerhorn, executive secretary of Georgia Cooperative Council; Joe and Devon Deal, 2008 N.C. Host Couple from Franklin, N.C.; Flint and Beverly Holbrook, 2008 S.C. Host Couple from Columbia, S.C.; Shawn and Karen Lyons, 2008 S.C. Host Couple from Cottageville, S.C.; Dennis and Lynne Gay, 2008 Georgia Host Couple from Lincolnton, GA; and Marie Stiles, CMP, executive director of the South Carolina Cooperative Council.

More than $2 million invested in helping young farmers get started in agriculture

A significant milestone was reached in early May as FarmStart LLP, a program to help individuals get  started in farming, passed the $2 million mark. FarmStart, established by First Pioneer Farm Credit (Enfield, Conn.) and CoBank (Denver, Colo.), provides working capital to individuals who may not meet traditional lending requirements, but have a dream to farm and a solid business plan. In addition to startup farm operations, the FarmStart program also invests in new cooperative enterprises.

FarmStart goals are twofold. First, the program invests initial working capital to help promising startup farmers establish a positive business and credit history during the initial phase of their entrepreneurial careers. In addition, it also creates a mentoring relationship between new farm business owners and a FarmStart adviser. The mentor helps strengthen each entrepreneur’s knowledge about business plans, cash flow projections and business records.

According to First Pioneer President and CEO Bill Lipinski, “This first-of-its-kind initiative in the United States is intended to address a gap in lending programs for startup farmers and farm cooperatives. That is, startup agricultural businesses require substantial financial investment, but young farmers often encounter barriers when it comes to finding capital for their new businesses.”

David Boone, First Pioneer executive vice president and FarmStart program director, added, “Our vision in developing the FarmStart program is to make a difference. Young farmers and agricultural cooperatives bring new ideas and enthusiasm to Northeast agriculture, and we are happy to be able to offer them a chance for success. In fact, over the past 18 months, we’ve invested in 22 beginning farmers because we are committed to the future of agriculture, forestry, commercial fishing, and rural communities across the Northeast.”

According to FarmStart entrepreneur Heather Hollay-Farr, “This FarmStart investment means a great deal to my business.”

Hollay-Farr is an owner of Hollywood Equine, a full-service equestrian facility in Ellington, Conn. “I can use the line of credit throughout the year and repay it during our busy season. I also like that my FarmStart adviser requires a detailed cash flow report every quarter. This advanced worksheet was new to me, but now that I’ve developed it, I find that it is a really nice snapshot of my business and an added bonus that gives me a better financial perspective of my business.”

For more information on FarmStart, go to FirstPioneer.com/Products.

First Pioneer Farm Credit distributes $6.3 million to customer-owners

First Pioneer Farm Credit, the Northeast’s largest agricultural lending cooperative, recently redeemed $6.3 million of allocated retained earnings (ARE) to its customer-owners.

Explaining First Pioneer’s ARE program, Bill Lipinski, president and CEO of the financial cooperative, said, “This $6.3 million represents a portion of the patronage dividend paid in early 2004 and invested as capital in the cooperative for the past five years. That capital has worked hard for our customers and now it’s time to redeem it. Put another way, we are putting that capital ‘out to pasture’ by paying it out to our customer-owners.”

“For the past five years, this ARE capital added to our strong financial position, which allowed us to obtain funds at attractive rates in global money markets. For our customers, this means access to credit at a fair price. It also means that their financial cooperative has the staying power to work with them through challenging cycles in agricultural industries.”

The recent $6.3 million of ARE is based on 2003 profits. At that time, the First Pioneer Board allocated a share of the financial cooperative’s profits to each customer-owner and invested the rest in capital with the understanding that the amount would ultimately be retired and paid out to customer-owners when it was no longer needed.

First Pioneer was able to redeem ARE again this year because it continues to build its capital position, including a new $9.0 million of ARE from 2008 profits as well as from additional retained earnings.

First Pioneer customers from across the Northeast will use the $6.3 million of redeemed ARE at a time of year when agricultural businesses experience heavy cash flow demands. Most customers will reinvest their checks in their businesses as working capital. Others will buy new equipment and some will pay down existing loans.

Lipinski added, “The board and I are committed to being good stewards of our customer’s money and operating a successful cooperative. That’s why First Pioneer has been able to retire ARE on a five-year schedule every year since its first redemption in 2002.”

“Likewise, we are equally committed to keeping our commitments to our customer-owners. It’s especially gratifying to accomplish that again in 2009. This is the eighth consecutive year that First Pioneer has redeemed ARE and customer-owners have enjoyed sharing in their cooperative’s profits.”

Video contest asks you to “keep it rural”

Farm Credit video contest celebrates life in the country

COLUMBIA, SC (June 16, 2009) – AgFirst Farm Credit Bank is calling for entries to the first-ever Keepin’ It Rural video contest.

Entrants can submit funny, inspiring, unusual, or amazing farm- or rural-themed videos for cash prizes of up to $3,000. Full details and rules are on the contest Web site, www.iKeepItRural.com. The contest began on May 1 and runs through Oct. 31, 2009.

Video submissions may be posted on an ongoing basis on the contest site as well as featured on the Keepin’ It Rural channel on YouTube (www.youtube.com/keepinitrural).

“This is about sharing and enjoying what’s fun about farm and country life,” says Mike Mooney, contest manager with AgFirst Farm Credit Bank. “It’s not about making fun of rural life, although I’m sure we’ll get some of those, too!”

The contest is sponsored by AgFirst Farm Credit Bank and open to residents of the 15 states included in the AgFirst Farm Credit District. They are: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Ohio.

Farm Credit to provide financial training to N.C. Farmers

Farm Credit has received a grant to cover the tuition and make a new e-learning financial and business management course available to North Carolina farm families.

The on-line training will be offered statewide through North Carolina’s three Farm Credit associations. The Farm Credit University curriculum includes training geared toward business plan development, financial planning, budgeting and other money matters essential to a farm’s success.

The program is funded by a $94,500 grant from the Tobacco Trust Fund Commission. The N.C. General Assembly established the commission in 2000 to help tobacco farmers, farm workers and related businesses impacted by the transition out of tobacco farming.

The commission’s funding comes from money paid by cigarette manufacturers as a result of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement.

Farm Credit’s e-learning program targets young, beginning, small, and minority farmers throughout the state. Priority will be given to former tobacco farmers and others impacted by the Tobacco buyout. The grant provides for training 30 producers in a set of 2 classes over the next 2 years.

Applications will be available soon with the first class beginning in September of 2009. Contact your nearest Farm Credit for more information.

“This is a unique opportunity for this group of farmers to learn and benefit in ways that will certainly improve their family farm operations,” said William Upchurch, Executive Director of the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission. 

Farm Credit is the state’s largest agricultural lender. Carolina Farm Credit (www.carolina farmcredit.com) serves the western half of the state. AgCarolina Financial (www.agcarolina.com) serves the Triangle and northeastern part of the state. Cape Fear Farm Credit (www. capefearfarmcredit.com) serves the southeastern corner of the state.

The Farm Credit financial training program is one of 20 projects across the state that received a combined total of $3 million in 2009 grants from the commission.

Southwest Georgia Farm Credit Photo Contest Gets Underway

If you've got a camera, get it out and start snapping! The 2009 Southwest Georgia Farm Credit Rural Living Photo Contest is about to get underway. Photos will be judged in four categories:

1. Kids and Nature
2. Life on the Farm
3. At Home in the Country
4. Rural Landscapes (no people, just gorgeous shots of the land!)

"The goal of the photo contest is to get folks to take a minute and look around them and see the beautiful rural landscape we have right here in southwest Georgia," said Liz Nogowski, Director of Marketing at Southwest Georgia Farm Credit.

"Our area farms and ranches, country homes - our farmers, their children, our rural lifestyle in general - what a tremendous opportunity to capture a moment of life right here where we live and work and play."  she added.

Winning photos will be used in the 2010 Southwest Georgia Farm Credit calendar and others will be featured in the winter issue of Wiregrass Land & Living magazine. Awards will be given for the top three photos in each category at $100, $50 and $25. A Grand Prize of $150 will be awarded for best overall photo.

The contest officially begins June 1, 2009. Deadline for entries is August 21, 2009. Visit www.SWGAFarmCredit.com for official rules and entry forms.

For more information, call Frances Edmunds at Farm Credit, 229-493-0140.

First Pioneer Board Elects Abbott Lee, Chairman and Ben Freund, Vice Chairman

At their May meeting, the members of the First Pioneer Farm Credit Board of Directors elected Abbott W. Lee, of Chatsworth, N.J., as chairman of the board and Benjamin J. Freund, of East Canaan, Conn., as vice chairman. First Pioneer customer-owners first elected Lee and Freund to the board in 2001.

Lee is the founder of Integrity Propagation, LLC, the first foundation-level nursery to provide material with high levels of genetic consistency to the cranberry industry. He is also the past president of a sixth-generation family blueberry and cranberry operation in New Jersey.

Freund operates Freunds Farm, Inc., a 200-cow dairy farm with 650 acres of pasture and crops, a 200-acre woodlot and a methane digester in Connecticut. Freund operates the family corporation with his wife, brother and sister-in-law.

In other elections, First Pioneer customer-owners recently reelected three members to the board of directors, each for a three-year term. Matthew W. Beaton, a fifth-generation cranberry grower operating in Wareham, Mass.; Christine Fesko, a dairy farmer and award-winning video producer from Skaneateles, N.Y.; and Sandra Prokop, a dairy farmer from Middleburgh, N.Y. and the managing director of the New York Farm Bureau Foundation for Agricultural Education, Inc.

According to Bill Lipinski, president and CEO of First Pioneer Farm Credit, “These five directors will continue a strong First Pioneer tradition of board governance on behalf of First Pioneer customer-owners, employees, investors in Farm Credit securities and the financial cooperative’s federally-chartered mission.”

In 2008, former Board Chairman Scott Markham, a dairy farmer from Constableville, N.Y., had announced that he would step down from his term as chairman of the board in anticipation of reaching his term limit in 2010.

In addition, the First Pioneer Board also includes: John J. Dickinson, Hudson Falls, N.Y.; Andrew J. Gilbert, Potsdam, N.Y.; Ann P. Hudson, Suffield, Conn.; Peggy Jo Jones, Boise, Idaho; John Lyman, III, Middlefield, Conn.; Scott Markham, Constableville, N.Y., Chuck Newman, Newtown, Conn.; and Lyle C. Wells, Riverhead, N.Y. The First Pioneer Board includes 10 stockholder-elected directors and three director-appointed members.

Texas Land Bank Posts Solid First Quarter Results

Texas Land Bank, ACA, reported strong financial results for the first quarter of 2009, highlighted by increases in net earnings and loan volume. Net income of $2.11 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2009, showed a 3.8 percent increase from the $2.03 million reported for the same period of 2008.

Gross loan volume at March 31, 2009, totaled $413.92 million, a 1.4 percent increase from the $408.27 million reported at Dec. 31, 2008. Texas Land Bank ended the first quarter of 2009 with assets of $426.57 million. Credit quality remained strong, with 97.9 percent of loans classified as “acceptable” or “other assets especially mentioned.” Nonaccrual loans were 0.9 percent of total loans at March 31, 2009, compared to 1.0 percent at Dec. 31, 2008, reflecting payoffs and pay-downs of nonaccrual loans.

“Our first quarter results show that we continue to be a strong and stable source of financing for agriculture and rural America, despite weaker economic times,” said Charles P. Gant, chief executive officer.

Farm Credit AgEnhancement grants surpass $1 million mark

The Northeast Farm Credit associations and CoBank recently announced a milestone achievement. The  premier financial service providers to agriculture surpassed $1 million in AgEnhancement Grants to nonprofit farm organizations serving the Northeast. The Northeast Farm Credit associations include First Pioneer Farm Credit (Enfield, Conn.); Farm Credit of Western New York (Batavia, N.Y.); Yankee Farm Credit (Williston, Vt.); and Farm Credit of Maine (Auburn, Maine). In partnership with CoBank (Denver, Colo.), the financial organizations have a long history of supporting farm programs through their Farm Credit Northeast AgEnhancement Program.

Since its inception in 1996, the AgEnhancement Program has awarded $1,016,000 through 371 grants.

About surpassing this milestone, Bill Lipinski, president and CEO of First Pioneer Farm Credit, said, “The Northeast Farm Credit associations and CoBank are proud to achieve this noteworthy $1 million-plus milestone, particularly since it reflects our combined support of hundreds of organizations over the past 13 years. We are equally proud of the organizations that received AgEnhancement grants over the years and the impressive work they all do to promote Northeast agriculture, support youth programs and generate a greater understanding of the Northeast’s vital agricultural, commercial fishing and forest products industries among the nonfarm public.”

Recent grant recipients

Individual awards are granted in April, July and December each year. The most recent grants, presented in April, highlight Farm Credit’s ongoing partnership with organizations that make a significant difference in the lives of people involved in all aspects of agriculture throughout the Northeast. In April, the AgEnhancement Program awarded a total of $35,500 to 19 organizations.

The Eastern States FFA Planning Committee received an $8,000 grant to support its FFA Star Award program. The FFA Star Award program brings students from 14 eastern states together to compete in four categories for awards that recognize and reward excellence in agriculture.

First Pioneer’s Bill Lipinski added, “Farm Credit associations have a proud history of supporting FFA and other programs that help develop agriculture’s future leaders. The FFA Star Program, in particular, exemplifies quality agricultural education and experiences for tomorrow’s agriculturists.”

According to Eastern Region Star Farmer Program Superintendent Harrison Griffin, “Each year, the region’s most dynamic FFA members compete for the coveted star awards that are sponsored by Farm Credit and The Big E. Farm Credit’s generosity funds the star awards, travel stipends and the awards luncheon for the FFA stars and their parents, FFA advisers, judges and guests.”

In addition, the most recent AgEnhancement grants also included a $5,000 award to the New York Wine and Grape Foundation. According to Foundation President Jim Trezise, “We earmarked this grant to develop a virtual-reality tractor in partnership with the New York Farm Bureau Foundation for Agricultural Education. Our goal is to give nonfarm children and adults a fun way to experience real farm life. Participants will feel like they are actually plowing a field or harvesting a crop while sitting in the tractor and watching video clips through its windshield.

“We hope to have the virtual tractor at the New York State Fair; the New York Wine and Culinary Center; county fairs and urban settings throughout the state by late summer. Giving consumers a closer look at farm life improves their understanding of the role that agriculture plays in providing the safest, most secure and most abundant food supply for their dinner tables.”

Trezise then added, “Grants are vitally important to the continuing work of nonprofit organizations, like ours, particularly at this time of government cutbacks. With this Farm Credit AgEnhancement Grant, we continue to broaden agriculture’s important message.”

Other recent recipients include: New England Green Pastures; New York Jersey Cattle Club; New York State Berry Growers Association; New York State Junior Jersey Club; Maine FFA Association; New Jersey Agricultural Society; Rhode Island Farm Bureau; Vermont Folklife Center; Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) of Massachusetts; Farm Fresh Rhode Island; New York Pork Producers; New England Apple Association; Vermont Feed Dealers and Manufacturers Association; 4-H Foundation of New Hampshire; Genesee Valley Farm Discovery Center; Regional Dairy Extension In-Service Training Program; and Northern Forest Center, Inc.

PHOTO: Bill Lipinski (right), president and CEO of First Pioneer Farm Credit, presented an $8,000 Farm Credit Northeast AgEnhancement Grant to Eastern Region Star Farmer Program Superintendent Harrison Griffin (left).

AgSouth rewards borrowers with $28 million return

AgSouth Farm Credit announced earnings of $33 million during 2008, down slightly from the association’s 2007 year-end figures.

CEO William P. Spigener, Jr. explained that the strength of the association held up even with “the unprecedented instability of the financial market and the slow down in the economy” that has affected other financial institutions.

He attributes the strength of the cooperative to “precautions taken over the past few years to help protect AgSouth’s customers from the adverse affects of a downward sliding economy and the commitment of the association’s customers, directors, management and staff.”

Unlike other lenders, AgSouth provides patronage refunds, a form of profit sharing, to its borrowers. AgSouth expects to distribute 2008 patronage of about $28 million – 25 percent of interest earned – among borrowers this month, CFO Alisa D. Gunter said.

Since 1991, the association has returned more than $234 million in cash to its borrowers. As of December 31, 2008, AgSouth had more than 6,800 members; $1.5 billion in assets; and $228 million in capital and allocated accounts.

Louisiana Ag Credit customers receive patronage checks

Louisiana Ag Credit customers recently received patronage refund checks totaling $250,000. The board of directors approved the patronage payment based on the association’s 2008 earnings.

This was the fifth consecutive year that the lending cooperative has returned a cash patronage to its borrowers, bringing its five-year patronage total to $1.5 million. This year’s patronage checks were mailed to customers in late March.

“Patronage is an important part of doing business with Louisiana Ag Credit,” said Jim Smith, Louisiana Ag Credit chief executive officer. “As a cooperative, we are owned by our borrowers. Every year, the board reviews the financial results and decides how much of the association’s earnings need to be maintained as capital to fund growth and operations. The rest is returned to our borrowers.”

Louisiana Ag Credit is a rural lending cooperative that specializes in loans for agriculture, rural real estate, country homes and agribusiness. The cooperative is headquartered in Arcadia and has field offices in Farmerville and Shreveport. Together, the three offices serve 11 Louisiana parishes. 

FLBA of North Alabama pays $2.75 million in cash patronage to customers

The Federal Land Bank Association (FLBA) of North Alabama recently mailed patronage checks totaling $2.75 million to customers. The patronage distribution was based on the rural lending cooperative’s solid financial results for 2008.

“We are extremely pleased that we were able to return a portion of last year’s earnings to our customer-stockholders in the form of patronage, particularly given the current global financial crisis,” said Ben Gore, FLBA of North Alabama chief executive officer. “As a cooperative, the Land Bank is owned by our customers; therefore, they benefit when we do well.”

The recent $2.75 million patronage payment reduced Land Bank borrowers’ 2008 effective interest rate by 0.68 percent.

The FLBA of North Alabama has declared a total of $11.6 million in patronage payments and dividends since 1999. This amount includes $3.6 million in dividends distributed to customers from 1999 through 2005, and more than $8 million in patronage payments distributed since 2006.

AgSouth Farm Credit distributes second financial revolvement to members in ‘09

AgSouth Farm Credit CEO Bill Spigener recently announced that the customer-owned cooperative returned more than $13.4 million in allocated surplus revolvements to its customers for the year ending December 31, 2003. Earlier this year the association returned $28 million in patronage to members who did business with the cooperative in 2008.

Additionally, AgSouth Farm Credit had net earnings of $7.9 million during the first quarter of 2009. The figure is down from first quarter 2008 earnings of $9.9 million. Spigener states, “While earnings are down, the association has taken proactive measures to generate additional income and reduce expenses for the remainder of 2009. Earnings are on track to meet the final 2008 earnings of $33.8 million. AgSouth’s directors and employees remaining focused on lending that meets our underwriting guidelines, despite the instability of the financial market and the slow down of the economy that has affected other financial institutions.”

CFO Alisa D. Gunter added, “AgSouth is committed to cooperative principles and strives to return the allocated surplus portion of its patronage payments to members on a five-year turnaround. The fact that we’re able to do that in these uncertain economic times is a testament to the strength of our association and its members.”

As a coooperative, AgSouth provides patronage refunds, a form of profit sharing, to its member-borrowers. Since 1991, the association has returned more than $233 million in cash to its borrowers. As of March 31, 2009, AgSouth had more than 6,800 members; $1.5 billion in assets; and $228 million in capital and allocated accounts.

AgSouth provides loans for agriculture and agriculture-related businesses, equipment, vehicles and facilities. The association also makes secondary home loans for rural home purchases, construction, and refinancing.