Posts By: Betsy Urso

Farm Hands West: Newsom appoints Baghdassarian to deputy secretary of agriculture Agri-Pulse By: Hannah Pagel Governor Gavin Newsom has appointed Haig Baghdassarian as the deputy secretary and chief counsel at the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Baghdassarian has been principal for the Law Office of Haig Baghdassarian since 2009. Arizona Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement… Read more »

Ameribor: A Look at the Other Libor Alternative Association for Financial Professionals By: Andrew Deichler While the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) is the chosen successor to Libor in the United States, other rates have emerged as potential alternatives. The latest AFP Treasury in Practice Guide, underwritten by Kyriba, takes an in-depth look at Ameribor…. Read more »

The Senate unanimously confirmed Chuck Stones to the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation board of directors Politico By: Ryan McCrimmon — The Senate unanimously confirmed Chuck Stones to the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation board of directors. Stones was president of the Kansas Bankers Association until retiring in 2019. He’ll join the 15-member board at “Farmer Mac,”… Read more »

Ag Lenders: Cultivate Growth with Effective Pricing, Structure Banking Exchange By: Mary Ellen Biery The coronavirus pandemic has created turbulent conditions in ag lending in 2020 The coronavirus pandemic has created turbulent conditions in ag lending in 2020, so understanding credit risk in current ag loan portfolios and effective pricing will be keys to solid… Read more »

Ag lenders fear reduced government aid for farmers in 2021 American Banker By: Jon Prior Lenders are meeting with farmers this month — often over Zoom — about refinancing their debts ahead of a spring planting season that will be critical to turnaround efforts in U.S. agriculture. But a 2021 comeback will be especially challenging,… Read more »

Low commodity prices continue to haunt ag BankBeat By: Cara Roberts Murez Editor’s note: This is the third part in our series on the state of ag as we round the corner into 2021. Previously, we asked regional ag banking experts about the trends they saw this past year, the impact of COVID-19 and the… Read more »

The Dramatic Recovery of 2020 Net Farm Income Farm Journal By: Tyne Morgan Tyne Morgan leads a panel discussing the recovery of 2020 Net Farm Income in the final Farm Country Update of 2020. Featured Panelists: Jackson Takach – Chief Economist, Farmer Mac Alan Hoskins – American Farm Mortgage & Financial Services Pat Westhoff –… Read more »

Behind-the-Desk Insights AgWeb By: Sara Schafer Overall, 2020 brought continued stress to the agricultural economy, according to a recent report from Farmer Mac and the American Bankers Association (ABA) that surveyed nearly 500 loan officers, managers and executives. On average, ag lenders reported slightly less than 51% of their agricultural borrowers were profitable in 2020…. Read more »