2013 Northeast Dairy Challenge

The 2013 Northeast Dairy Challenge was held at the William H Miner Agricultural Research Institute in Chazy, NY from October 31st to November 2nd. The challenge, in its 11th year, had 119 students from 14 colleges and universities.



The Dairy Challenge is an educational program that helps prepare students for careers in the dairy industry. The students work in mixed-university teams and visited a dairy farm to assess all aspects of the farm. They then organized their observations and suggestions into 20 minute presentations which were given to a panel of judges.

Farm Credit is a 5 star platinum sponsor of this event which hosts 4 regional and 1 national contest each year. The program is fully funded through the generous support of companies and producer associations serving the dairy industry, as well as a growing number of alumni and individual dairy farm owners.

 Association loan officers; Jean Conklin, Chuck Custeau, and Suzanne Petig, as well as Rob Guay, Association Appraiser all assisted in various aspects of the challenge.

 Mike Farmer, Senior Vice President in the St. Albans office gave a presentation to the students on financial record keeping, benchmarking and goal setting.

Q3 2013 Financial Results

Quarterly net income for Yankee was $2.3 million, an increase of $382 thousand over 2012.  Net interest income increased 13 percent to $3.5 million, up from $3.1 million in 2012.  The most significant factors driving the increase in net income are increases in loan volume, a decrease in the provision for credit losses, and patronage refunds from CoBank.

For the first nine months of 2013, net income increased 5 percent to $6.7 million, up $283 thousand from a year ago.  Net interest income increased 13 percent to $10.3 million. There was a provision for credit losses of $244 thousand through the third quarter of 2013, as compared to $151 thousand for the same period in 2012. Other income decreased by $207 thousand, primarily due to $393 thousand in refunds from the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation in 2012.

Loans held by the Association at September 30, 2013 were $403.9 million, up 5 percent from year end.  The loan portfolio continues to be concentrated in the dairy industry, with 53 percent of the loans invested in dairy businesses.  The second largest concentration is timber, with 13 percent of the loan volume at quarter end.    

Click here for the full quarterly Report to Shareholders.

Alyth Hescock - New Appraiser Joins Yankee Staff

We are pleased to announce that Alyth Hescock joined Yankee as a Certified General Real Estate Appraiser on October 21st. Alyth has a dairy farm background and is a graduate of the University of Vermont with a degree in Community Development and Applied Economics. He has been appraising since 2005, primarily in the Champlain Valley area of Vermont. He has substantial experience in appraising farms and other rural properties as an independent fee appraiser.

Please join us in welcoming Alyth to Yankee.