During #CattleCon18 I visited with Farm Credit to learn what they are offering to cattle ranchers. I talked with Todd Moore (pictured), Farm Credit Mid-America, first and asked him what the message is for those attending. He says that with the volatility in cattle prices lender are talking to their customers and asking questions like, “Do they have a risk management plan?” And if they do, “Do they have enough information to know their fixed and variable costs to devise a good plan?”
When it comes to what questions he is getting from producers he says they are very diverse but with some common themes like interest rates. With interest rates expected to continue to rise they wonder about locking in rates or having fixed interest rates. He says that is something Farm Credit can help them with. Learn more from my interview with Todd.
Listen to my interview with Todd here: Interview with Todd Moore, Farm Credit Mid-America
During my time with Farm Credit I also spoke with Rod Alt, Capital Farm Credit. He says that one of the benefits of being able to be a part of the NCBA Trade Show is the wide variety of cattle producers who attend and have very different needs. He also talks about having a good business plan and how Farm Credit and help their customers with that effort. He also offers some ideas for dealing with the upcoming year with all of its challenges.
Listen to my interview with Rod here: Interview with Rod Alt, Capital Farm Credit
Farm Credit also held a series of open forum roundtable discussions during the convention. The first one was conducted by Trevor Amen, Cobank and Sarah Fitzgerald, Capital Farm Credit. The topic was trade. As you can imagine that is a very important one for the industry. Listen in to hear about things like alternative meats and more.
Listen to the roundtable discussion here: Forum with Trevor Amen, Cobank & Sarah Fitzgerald, Capital Farm Credit