Following persistent advocacy by ABA, state bankers associations and bankers, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry announced this week that it will hold a hearing on May 19 to discuss the oversight of the Farm Credit System. Leonard Wolfe, president and CEO of United Bank & Trust, Marysville, Kan., and a chairman of ABA’s Agricultural Credit Task Force, will testify on behalf of the banking industry.
Reining in the taxpayer-subsidized Farm Credit System has long been a staple of ABA’s Agenda for America’s Hometown Banks. In December 2015, the association’s advocacy efforts led to an oversight hearing on the Farm Credit Administration — FCS’ top regulator — before the House Agriculture Committee. Lawmakers at the hearing challenged the FCS on mission creep, retained mineral rights following foreclosures and the risk to taxpayers posed by the GSE’s “similar entity” financing of telecomm giants like Verizon and AT&T.
