A new consumer-focused program with ties to the Farm Credit System is drawing bankers’ ire.
Rural 1st, a program from Farm Credit Mid-America, will make make loans tied to lots, recreational land and construction, along with mortgages and home equity lines, to borrowers in rural markets across Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Farming’s tough. Any farmer, rancher or producer will tell you that it’s hard to make a living off of agriculture, and that’s especially true for young, beginning and small farmers. Because of this, Congress requires the Farm Credit System (FCS) to make loans to young, beginning and small farmers and to report their lending data annually. This is all to ensure that those farmers have access to the credit they need, and that American agriculture will continue to thrive in the future.
The Farm Credit System (FCS), a $333 billion giant in agricultural lending, plays by different rules. Unlike rural community banks and other financial institutions, which answer to an alphabet soup of agencies, Farm Credit institutions answer primarily to the Farm Credit Administration (FCA). The FCA doesn’t do much by way of enforcement, leaving Farm Credit associations across the country to mostly regulate themselves. But shady activity is happening under the noses of Farm Credit institutions all across the country. Continue Reading
The Farm Credit System (FCS) is a massive, nearly $330 billion institution that would be the seventh largest bank in the country, if it had the same stringent regulation that other financial institutions have. It doesn’t – instead, it is regulated by the Farm Credit Administration (FCA), which routinely fails to crack down on some of the FCS’s worst offenses.
On October 2, the Farm Credit Administration (FCA), the Farm Credit System’s regulator (FCS), publicly posted a memorandum outlining its National Oversight Program (NOP).
The Farm Credit Administration (FCA), the regulator of the Farm Credit System (FCS), has announced that it will be rolling out new regulations through 2019 to address pressing issues, including reducing regulatory burden and instituting new criteria for restoring problem loans. Among these many proposed regulations is one on appraisals.
The Farm Credit System (FCS) is supposed to serve the entire country through its local associations, which are supposed to make sure that farmers, ranchers and producers have access to credit from a local source. That local source – the association – can best serve the needs of its clients because it’s close by; it understands the local economic pressures, the community and can keep an eye on things.
The Farm Credit System (FCS), as a government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) tasked with providing reliable access to credit for all American farmers, ranchers and producers, has special mandates. Arguably the most important mandate for the FCS is to provide reliable access to credit for young, beginning and small (YBS) farmers, ranchers and producers. The law is abundantly clear on this: “Each Federal land bank association and production credit association shall prepare a program for furnishing sound and constructive credit and related services to young, beginning, and small farmers and ranchers.” Continue Reading
Last year it issued a Notification of Non-Reliance on Previously Issued Financial Statements, which is as bad as it sounds. Financial statements from 2016 and the first quarter of 2017 were to be disregarded and no longer relied upon due to, in Lone Star’s words, “appraisal and accounting irregularities.” Continue Reading
Every five years, Congress revisits the federal government’s agricultural policy. The House has passed its version of the Farm Bill already, and Reform Farm Credit is proud to congratulate the Senate on passing its own version as well!
The Senate deserves huge credit for this Farm Bill because it holds the Farm Credit System (FCS) accountable and makes it more secure and reliable. Continue Reading