Amid Farm Economy Troubles, Farm Credit Administration Releases 2020 National Oversight Plan
This week at a press briefing in Washington, DC, three CEOs of Farm Credit System (FCS) institutions – AgriBank, Carolina Farm Credit and American AgCredit – announced that the System’s portfolio of “stressed” agricultural loans nearly doubled, from four percent to seven percent. Not long after, the System’s regulator, the Farm Credit Administration (FCA), released its 2020 National Oversight Plan.
It could not come at a better time. The FCA’s record on enforcing the Farm Credit Act and keeping the System in line is spotty at best. American agriculture is at risk, and the FCA needs to increase its oversight of the System so that it doesn’t leave farmers – especially young, beginning and small farmers – out to dry like it has in 2018.