On February 28, the Agricultural Appropriation Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee held an oversight hearing on the Farm Credit Administration (FCA), the first such hearing the subcommittee had held in 19 years.

Lawmakers echoed bankers’ concerns about “mission creep” by the government-sponsored Farm Credit System in a House Agriculture Committee hearing today on the system’s performance and overall safety and soundness.

Community banks slightly increased their numbers of branches in 2016 and over the previous five years, despite an ongoing trend in reduced branch numbers since 2008, according to the latest issue of the FDIC Quarterly.

Farmer Mac today reported $1.5 billion in net new business growth in the fourth quarter, generating a record outstanding business volume of $17.4 billion as of Dec. 31, 2016.

At a Senate Agriculture Committee field hearing in Kansas today, ABA highlighted the critical role that the nation’s banks play providing credit to farmers and ranchers, and advocated for changes to the upcoming 2018 Farm Bill that would take into account the rising costs of agriculture.

On February 1, Dallas Tonsager, the new chairman and CEO of the Farm Credit Administration (FCA), gave his maiden speech as FCA chairman at the Farm Credit Council’s annual meeting. The Council is the trade association for the FCS’s banks and associations. Tonsager sent a powerful message to the FCS that can be characterized by one word – confidence – ...

The current shortage of certified appraisers is hitting bankers hard, particularly in rural markets.

By Bert Ely As last month’s FCW reported, on December 1, the ABA sent a letter to Farm Credit Administration (FCA) chairman Dallas Tonsager registering ABA’s strong objection to CoBank’s participation in a $1.55 billion credit facility that had been extended to CyrusOne LP, the operating partnership of CyrusOne, Inc., a NASDAQ-listed Real Estate Investment Trust, or REIT. CoBank’s portion ...

In this month's Farm Credit Watch, Bert Ely highlights the continued abuses of Farm Credit lender CoBank, which has recently made several large loans to borrowers that are not connected to agriculture.

ABA and Farmer Mac today launched a new nationwide, biannual survey of agricultural lenders