FCCS News & Insights

CEO Insights from the National Directors Conference

The CEO panel discussion at the 2024 National Directors Conference covered a gamut of topics, from challenges and opportunities to innovations and new paths forward. Learn more from the varied perspectives of five respected Farm Credit CEOs.

Participating CEOs

Jeremy Anderson, Farm Credit of Southern Colorado

Vance Dalton, AgSouth Farm Credit

Travis Jones, Greenstone Farm Credit Services

Kayla Robinson, AgTexas Farm Credit Services

Jase Wagner, Compeer Financial

Facilitator

Jean Cantey Segal, Chief Learning Officer, FCCS

Top Issues for Farm Credit CEOs

Technology: Farm Credit’s inability to coalesce around one common platform is a disadvantage to all of the System. It puts us behind, especially as our competition is ramping up their technical capabilities. At the same time, we need to balance our use of technology with our strong focus on building relationships with our members.

Prioritization: CEOs encounter new ideas every day, many of them technology related. No organization can pursue them all, so identifying the ideas that will add the most value and that will keep us relevant becomes a very important balancing act of prioritization.

Talent: The talent market is tight across the country, but as relationship lenders, Farm Credit especially needs to attract and retain the right talent so we can continue to serve and keep our customers’ trust. Having a strong team with the right people is also the only way that we can stay on top of the pace of change.

Expectations: Expectations are changing from every direction. Customer expectations are rising significantly, including a desire for digital solutions. Employee expectations for more and different benefits are increasing, and these, too, carry technology demands. And we’ve set a performance expectation pattern with stockholders that we may need to manage if economic conditions change and we need to start making different capital decisions.

Innovative Strategies to Drive Growth

Supporting long-term relationships: Consolidation in the agriculture sector is ongoing and likely to continue, so we’ve made a concerted effort to make sure that we’re providing resources to our loan officers so that they can continue to build customer relationships, so when they do have consolidation opportunities, there’s not a question about who they call.

Finding new markets: Institutional investors are coming into our market and stealing share from us, often in the operating line and equipment business. We’re working to understand how those digital channels are evolving and what they’re doing, with the possibility of partnering with them. We’re also identifying new customers coming into ag from metro areas within our territory, and also people coming from outside our territory, who are very hard to reach.

Building YBS relationships: We want to make sure we’re there for the next generation so we’ve instituted a mentorship program pairing YBS farmers with someone more experienced in their same commodity. We also started a YBS conference that’s gaining traction. We need to stick to these basics to make sure our customers are there with us for the long-term.

Educating younger talent. Employees need to be educated, particularly the less tenured, about working through the volatility and high rates.

Ensuring Stability and Success

Retaining talent: The relationship between loan officers and the customer is central, so it’s critical to retain these team members – when times are tough customers want to talk to the person who has seen them through some tough times, and they trust we’ll see them through the next one, too. Having a full staff ready to respond to challenging times is a key aspect of planning for the volatility we face.

Pursuing Joint Ventures: There is a tremendous amount of opportunity for Farm Credit to work together across association and district lines. One challenge with joint ventures is establishing an agreement and a structure with the flexibility to respond to the inevitable changes that arise.

Non-traditional investors: The institutional market has found agriculture, which could be a good opportunity for lending partnerships if the lender is here to stay, and if they understand and support Farm Credit’s mission. If the non-traditional lenders leave the sector, though, Farm Credit will need to be ready to support our customers.

If you’re a CEO looking for solutions to these strategic issues and more, FCCS consultants stand ready to offer expert and informed support. Contact Jean Cantey Segal, CLO, FCCS.