Small Business and Lender Conference

Bill Heath, Senior Vice President and Chief Credit Officer, attended the Small Business and Lender Matchmaker Conference in Barre on Monday, April 26th. The conference was organized by Sen. Patrick Leahy, and featured representatives from several lending institutions: banks, credit unions, non-profits, state entities, and the federal government were available to answer questions from small business owners. FSA was kind enough to allow Bill to share some space with them at the conference. For more information about the event please see this article from the Burlington Free Press.

Talk at Middlebury College

I gave a talk to the Student Investment Committee at Middlebury College on April 14th. Dr. Scott Pardee, the faculty advisor to the SIC, invited me to talk about Yankee Farm Credit and "The 5 C's of Credit." I also talked about GSEs and employment opportunities in the Farm Credit System. And I talked briefly about mathematical risk models, which is something that I blogged about last fall.

The talk was just a few weeks after our 2009 annual report was printed, and I was pleased to use the cover of that annual report to make a point about the first "C" of credit: character. When you are a lender, it is important to know your borrower. At Yankee Farm Credit we are fortunate to know multiple generations of many of our borrowers, as in the case of Monument Farms Dairy—featured on the cover of our 2009 annual report. Perhaps the students will remember not only about character but also about how the Farm Credit System moves money from Wall Street to rural America, because Monument Farms has provided milk to Middlebury College for over 50 years.

In his announcement for my talk, Dr. Pardee wrote: "Yankee Farm Credit is a wonderful example of sound risk management." Congratulations to the board and staff for earning that compliment!

Pettee Medal Ceremony

Yankee Director Stephen Taylor was awarded the Pettee Medal by the University of New Hampshire Alumni Association on April 6th. (See this earlier post for background information about the Pettee Medal and Steve.) Upwards of 200 people gathered in Huddleston Hall on the UNH campus in Durham to honor Steve. Speeches were given by a number of notable people, including Lorraine Stuart Merrill, Steve's successor as Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, Markets and Food. In his speech Steve talked about farming, journalism and public service. Click here for more information about the ceremony.

UNH students contributed to the ceremony. The a cappella group Alabaster Blue sang two songs: the UNH alma mater and a song written especially for the occasion about cows and the Taylor Farm: "I Am Cow." (It was a hit!) A group of four UNH CREAM students took turns reading "100 Things You Should Do To Know the Real New Hampshire," written by Steve when he was ag commissioner. Below are the four CREAM students with Steve, wearing his Pettee Medal:

Second from the left is Emily Malnati '10, President of CREAM. Emily won a Royal W. Smith, Jr. Scholarship from Yankee Farm Credit in 2008.

Click here for more information and photos about the ceremony, including a list of past winners of the Pettee Medal. It is a distinguished group!

UPDATE 4/27/10: For a video of part of the ceremony, click here. The first two minutes of the video are the "I Am Cow" song by Alabaster Blue. It's good!

Rupert Chamberlin

The Board of Directors celebrated Rupert Chamberlin's long service to Yankee Farm Credit at its meeting on March 29-30. Rupert has been a director since 1993 when he was elected to the board of Farm Credit of the Connecticut Valley. In 1995 Farm Credit of the Connecticut Valley merged with Champlain Valley Farm Credit to become Yankee Farm Credit.

The board meeting was at the Town & Country Motor Inn in Shelburne, NH, where they do a cake right, with sparklers!

Over the years Rupert served with many directors and several CEOs. The current crew:

Left to right, top: Paul Gingue, chairperson, Steve Taylor, Celeste Kane-Stebbins, Alan Bourbeau. Middle: Walt Gladstone, Rocky Giroux, vice chairperson, Paul Doton. Front: me, Charlie Sniffen, Rupert, Rocki-Lee DeWitt, Paul Saenger.

Rupert, thank you for your wisdom and counsel over the years. Best wishes to you and Muriel!

Farmer Resource Fair

Sue Kelley, Senior Loan Officer from the Middlebury office, attended the Farmer Resource Fair held March 30, 2010 at Green Mountain College in Poultney, VT.

Besides the many exhibitors from the ag community, the fair provided workshops in the following areas:

Successful Rental Relationships
Farmland Access and Land Purchase Options
Farm Conservation Programs: Available Incentives and Assistance
Energy Efficiency and Renewables on the Farm: Available Rebates and Assistance
Affordable Health Care and Insurance Options for Farmers

2010 Dairy Challenge

The 9th annual North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge was held in Visalia, CA, April 8-10, 2010. The event was hosted by Cal Poly and California State University Fresno. NAIDC 2010 attracted teams from 30 universities throughout the United States and Canada. Each team of four was challenged to put their textbook and practical knowledge to the ultimate test-analyzing dairies. The contest started with a walkthough at one of the four host dairies, followed by the opportunity to ask questions of the owners and analyze farm-specific data. Teams then used this information and their observations to develop management recommendations and present them to the herd owners and a panel of five dairy industry judges.

The program is fully funded through the generous support of companies and producer associations serving the dairy industry, including Farm Credit and many local associations. Jean Conklin, Loan Officer and Tax Specialist from the White River office, serves on the NAIDC Board of Directors representing Farm Credit, a major sponsor of the event. Teams from UVM and UMaine participated. The national and four regional contests provide this educational opportunity to over 300 students each year.

See website http://www.dairychallenge.org/ for results.

Director Election Results

The last of four annual meetings was held last night in West Lebanon, NH. Members completed voting for directors, ballots were counted, and the results were announced before the meeting was adjourned.

Elected to three year terms on the board of directors were:
Region 1 – Alan Bourbeau
Region 2 – Bryan Davis
Region 3 – Paul Saenger

Congratulations to Alan, Bryan and Paul. And thanks to Clark Hinsdale, Glenn McNall, Louise Calderwood and Leon (Skip) Clark for participating in the elections as candidates.

There were 164 ballots cast this year, which was 15% of eligible voters. This was down from 180 ballots (17%) last year, but up from 151 ballots (15%) two years ago. Thank you to everyone for participating, and a special thanks to employees for organizing and running successful meetings.

Maple Website @ UVM

The University of Vermont launched a new website last month for all things maple:

Maple Syrup

A quote from the website: "This website is a comprehensive subject guide in the field of maple syrup, touching on all aspects of maple syrup and sugar maples: maple syrup history, collection and production, marketing, nutrition and recipes, sugar maple cultivation, environmental issues and pests and diseases."

The website does seem comprehensive, but I did not find a recipe for Haymakers Tea (see the 7/24/09 issue of Agriview, p. 12). This maple drink has a number of names. When I was growing up, we called it switchel, and we did indeed drink lots of it when we were making hay. I think it would make a great sports drink!

UPDATE 4/09/10: Another good maple reference is the North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual published by Ohio State University Extension. One of the editors of this 329-page publication is UVM's Tim Perkins.

UPDATE 4/25/10: About 70% of the world's maple syrup is produced in Quebec. Maple syrup production in Quebec is controlled by quotas under the direction of the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers. Statistics on Canadian maple syrup production are available at Statistics Canada. Statistics on U.S. production are available from the NASS.