Wisconsin bankers have their voice heard in Washington DC thanks to the American Bankers Association (ABA). They represent 83 percent of all banks nationwide and have agricultural loans in their portfolio.
Ed Elfmann, Senior Vice President of Agricultural and Rural Banking Policy for ABA explains what lending issues are being brought to his attention and how he is supporting Wisconsin bankers and farmers with the upcoming Farm Bill.
“The biggest thing being brought to our attention right now from a lending standpoint is that commodity prices are high,” says Elfmann. “The other thing that we’re hearing a lot in D.C. on rural lending is lack of credit or access to credit.”
Elfmann says they are working with legislators to provide support and help with access to credit going forward. He adds that agriculture has become more expensive over the years and the banking regulations haven’t really paced with how agriculture is growing.
“Net farm income has been and will continue to be high,” says Elfmann. “During the pandemic, many farmers paid off debt and consolidated more and were really able to leverage their dollars. So when you look from that standpoint farms have gotten bigger, the dollars have gotten higher, but they’ve become more efficient in their production too.”
When it comes to the Farm Bill, he says their number one priority is guaranteed loan programs. He believes they need to be bigger than they are right now in order to help beginning farmers and ranchers as one of their biggest barriers is credit.
“Outside of that, it’s keeping crop insurance strong and making sure that these programs make sense for farmers. When a Farm Bill happens, we make these policy changes and then we don’t think about unintended consequences at times. So our other priority is making sure that we are part of that conversation and that we don’t have unintended consequences happen to us,” adds Elfmann.
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