Podcast: Strategies to help America’s agricultural producers

The bank consolidation logjam broke in 2025, with several banks, including large regionals, inking major deals amid an accelerated pace for approvals. What's ahead in 2026?

Jon Sisk and Matt Lujano's banks couldn't be more different at first appearance, but the two community bank leaders share a positive outlook on the role of tech in community banking.

The IRS issued interim guidance for a new tax benefit for lenders serving rural and agricultural communities, which was included in a tax package passed by Congress earlier this year.

About 9.1 million small-business loans totaling nearly $276.6 billion were reported in 2024. As for small-farm loans, about 197,000 small-farm loans were reported for 2024, totaling about $14.5 billion.

The regulatory path for agricultural lenders is much easier than just a few months ago was the message today from ABA leadership and policy experts during the first day of the association’s annual Agricultural Bankers Conference.

The CFPB is proposing revisions to its small-business lending data rule to scale back the scope of data collection, saying that adopting a “longer-term” approach that allows for the future addition of more data points would be the...