Minding Ag's Business
Lessons from the 1980s
The recalibration of the grain economy is underway. It's not anywhere close to the 1980s debt crisis, but fathers who lived through that debacle don't want their children to be casualties, as Elizabeth Williams reports in her Senior Partners installment, "What Dad Learned in the '80s" (see the full story on the Farm Business page http://goo.gl/…). Nebraska grain producer and cattleman Don Cantrell learned you can be current on your payments, yet still be classified as a problem loan. He now avoids situations where multiple lenders "participate" on his credit lines, because he knows a loan committee in a distant city doesn't care as much about his credit as the loan officer at his local bank. He also tries to run with the minimum of operating credit.
Stan Reiss of Kansas drastically downsized his farming business when his machinery dealership was under stress, but he picked up a new successful new sideline in custom harvesting at a bargain price. He recognized that a business failure is nothing compared to the loss of a child, so developed a more balanced perspective on life.
By 1986, ag banks accounted for just under half of the 103 commercial banks that folded due to insolvency during the first three quarters of the year. The shock was that borrowers fared far worse than depositors. Janet and Rock Tregellas of the Texas panhandle now spread their credit around to several lenders, so they never have to deal with the FDIC again.
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I was a young reporter in Washington D.C. who followed the debt crisis from the point of view of policymakers in the 1980s. What I learned from the Federal Reserve and the Farm Credit Administration at the time was that regulators took control when whole industries like ag or energy fell off the cliff. Once regulators discovered that a bank or Farm Credit portfolio included 25% or more problem loans, your loan officer wasn't calling the shots. Bank examiners were.
My advice is to make sure you not only maintain good relations with your local lender, but keep your key financial ratios up to snuff, especially working capital. Farm loans are so big today, you need to look good on paper as well as character.
So what did you learn from the 80s you hope today's young farmers don't have to learn the hard way?
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