As the June Farm Credit Watch first reported, three large, midwest FCS associations are moving forward with their planned merger; regulatory approval by the Farm Credit Administration is almost certain. They are AgStar, serving eastern and southern Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin; Badgerland Financial, which serves southern Wisconsin; and 1st Farm Credit Services, which serves northern and western Illinois. The merged ...

The ABA Center for Agricultural and Rural Banking has announced the recipients of both the Bruning and Blanchfield Awards, the center’s premiere awards presented to top agricultural bankers.

Don’t let today’s changing ag economy, competitive pressure, interest rate risk and lending limits hold you back from growing profits and gaining market share. Attend one of Farmer Mac’s free credit-focused road shows.

As we approach the fall and harvest season, ABA's Steve Apodaca is reminded of the resiliency and productiveness of U.S. farmers and ranchers.

ABA and other agricultural trade associations wrote to the House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees on agriculture today asking lawmakers to include additional funding for the Farm Service Agency’s farm loan programs in the FY 2017 budget bill.

Several Iowa congressional candidates expressed concerns about the FCS at a candidates’ forum, as reported by several Iowa media outlets.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Housing Service will cut fees for lenders who use its Single-Family Housing Loan Guarantee Program, according to news reports.

America’s agricultural bankers stand ready to help farmers and ranchers as concerns rise about low commodity prices and available liquidity, Iowa banker Michael Hein wrote in an op-ed in Agri-Pulse today.

The federal banking agencies today issued aggregate data on 2015 small-business, small-farm and community development loans that institutions reported under the Community Reinvestment Act. The data, which commercial banks and savings institutions with about $1.2 billion or more in assets are required to report and others can report voluntarily, show that such institutions made about 6.1 million small-business loans, totaling ...

By Bert Ely A recent article in the Economic Review published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City inadvertently showed how the FCS’s very favorable tax treatment has distorted agricultural lending competition between banks and the FCS.  The article, titled “Competition in Local Agricultural Lending Market: The Effect of the Farm Credit System,” included three very interesting charts.  The ...