Terry Barta, vice president for ag lending at the Peoples Bank in Smith Center, Kan., has been named the winner of the 2015 Bruning Award for lifetime achievement in agricultural banking, ABA announced today. Barta will receive the award at the ABA National Agricultural Bankers Conference in Kansas City, Mo., on Oct. 27.
“The most rewarding part of my career has been the financial partnership I’ve formed with farmers in our community,” said Barta. “From helping families get through the ag crisis of the 80s to working with the same farm families through a second generation, I’ve found spending my career in the same community at the same bank tremendously gratifying.”
Barta has been an ag banker for more than 35 years, prior to which he worked for the Farmers Home Administration at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He has served as chairman of ABA’s Agricultural and Rural Bankers Committee and on the Kansas Bankers Association’s ag committee. He has also been an advisory board member on beginning ranchers and farmers at USDA.
“Today’s ag lenders need to be cognizant of the changing ag economy,” Barta commented. “Fortunately, we have much better analytical tools available today than we did 30 years ago. Implementing those tools will allow us to better prepare as lenders and provide better direction for our farm customers.”
