Finn Bondeson - Farm Credit Fellow

Farm Credit Fellow Finn Bondeson of Woodland, Aroostook County, Maine, spent the week of May 13-17 as a Farm Credit Fellow in our Middlebury office. Finn is from the potato-growing region of Maine, and grew up on a family farm producing potatoes, oats, and hay, as well as roughly 15 head of beef cattle. Finn’s family also manages a greenhouse operation, selling annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs, and vegetable plants. Finn is a third-year Civil Engineering major at the University of Maine, but has always fostered and continues to foster an interest in agriculture. While in the Middlebury office, Finn had the pleasure of learning about the dairy and maple industries in Vermont and has been able to travel Addison and Rutland Counties to see the local dairies, orchards, and sugarhouses. Finn would like to thank the Middlebury office and Yankee Farm Credit for their kind hospitality throughout the week.

1st Quarter Financial Results

First quarter net income for Yankee was $2.3 million, an increase of $195 thousand over the same quarter in 2012. The most significant factors driving the increase were increases of $323 thousand in net interest income and $97 thousand in other income. These increases were offset by an increase in the provision for credit losses of $92 thousand and an increase of $133 thousand in other expenses.

Loans held by the Association at March 31, 2013 were $375.5 million, up 11.3 percent from the prior year. The loan portfolio continues to be concentrated in the dairy industry, with 55 percent of the loans invested in dairy businesses. The second largest concentration is timber, with 13 percent of the loan volume at quarter-end.

Credit quality across Yankee’s loan portfolio remained strong during the quarter and well within the risk-bearing capacity of the Association. At quarter-end 1.5 percent of the Association's loans were classified as nonperforming, unchanged from the end of 2012. There were no loan charge-offs, but recoveries of $7 thousand in the quarter. The Association’s capital position remains strong.

The 2012 patronage refund to members in the amount of $4.9 million was paid 100% in cash on March 25, 2013.

Producing Excellence

Last year the Farm Credit System celebrated it's 95th anniversary! In honor of the anniversary celebration the "Producing Excellence" series of stories was created in order to feature the success, strength and diversity of farmers and ranchers across the U.S. through "profiles" of Farm Credit customers.

The original goal was to get to 95 customer profiles for the 95th anniversary, but because the program had such a positive response Farm Credit began to expand and feature more farms. In the review of the first series, it was realized that U.S. agriculture was not fully represented; there were both states and industries that were missing from the series.

We are very pleased to have been contacted to feature Taylor Brother's Farm. The Taylor's are from Meriden, NH; they have a dairy farm where they produce artisan cheeses as well as maple products. To see their "Producing Excellence" profile, please follow this link:

http://www.farmcreditnetwork.com/producingexcellence/profiles/single/157.

Board Officers and Committees

At the April 30, 2013 board meeting, the Board of Directors elected the following officers:

Chairperson – Rocklyn A. Giroux
Vice Chairperson – Alan J. Bourbeau

Also approved were committee assignments:

Executive Committee
Rocklyn A. Giroux, Chairperson
Alan J. Bourbeau
Bryan E. Davis
Walter M. Gladstone
Celeste Kane-Stebbins

Audit Committee
Rocki-Lee DeWitt, Chairperson
Thomas J. Colgan
Paul B. Franklin
Paul F. Saenger
Stephen H. Taylor

Compensation Committee
Celeste Kane-Stebbins, Chairperson
Rocki-Lee DeWitt
Walter M. Gladstone
Paul F. Saenger
Stephen H. Taylor

Membership/Governance Committee
Alan J. Bourbeau, Chairperson
Thomas J. Colgan
Bryan E. Davis
Paul B. Franklin
Bradley N. Maxwell