Farm credit leader comments on commodities, changes

By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas Edition

June 23, 2005 - "People do business with other people … not institutions," explained Larry Doyle, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Farm Credit Bank (FCB) of Texas based in Austin. "We're out to reclaim the ranch."

Approximately 41 percent of the district's loan portfolio was for livestock operations in 2004, including fed beef cattle stockers and cow-calf operations. Even with the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or "mad cow disease") that appeared in the United States in late 2003, prices have remained high for beef, dairy cows and replacement heifers.

Growing conditions for crops such as corn, wheat, soy and hay resulted in "most ranchers" feeling the pressure to sell at current prices. Cotton, rice and corn has had increases in production and reductions in price, but cotton production in Mississippi and the Delta region have led the states. Wheat production was above average, with projected increases in exports expected. Corn production was above normal, as was rice.

One problem facing producers in 2005 has been the increase in fuel, fertilizers and chemicals, and this is expected to impact producer margins.

Doyle noted that "helping rural America and rural people has always been special, because they are mannerly, have high values and are hard workers … helping rural America and rural people has always been special, because they are mannerly, have high values and are hard workers."

Doyle expressed gratefulness to the FCB associations, because they "have embraced changes and flourished." With all the business administration changes, such as on-line banking, the major objectives are to make improvements in dividends to the stockholders and reduce the cost of borrowing to rural America.

"If rural financing were a 50-yard dash, Farm Credit would have a 20-yard head start, thanks to our cooperative structure and reliable source of competitively priced funds," noted Doyle. "We are blessed with where we live."

According to their 2004 Annual Report, the bank and its 21 rural lending cooperatives in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas, along with four other financing institutions are progressing at top speed, breaking all records in 2004. Farm Credit and its associations represent the Tenth Farm Credit District.

A part of the Farm Credit System, a network of financing co-ops established by national Congress in 1916 and regulated by the Farm Credit Administration, the network has risen to $125 billion, nationwide.

Farm Credit Bank, owned by the co-op members, "provides agricultural and mortgage loans to their owners, agricultural producers, agribusiness firms, country homeowners and other rural landowners." With cattle and commodities at record highs, everyone in the system has been enjoying the good times.

Doyle began his career with the Farm Credit System 29 years ago in South Carolina, where he still retains the family farm and has family. Two years ago, in March of 2003, he was hired as the CEO of the Farm Credit Bank of Texas, and things haven't slowed down a bit, under his leadership. The organization just continues to be in the right place at the right time, offering rural citizens what they need and may not be able to obtain from other lending institutions.