On 3/18 Loan Officer Morgan Greenwood went to VTC to meet with the Dairy Herd Management class. The class consisted of seniors (2nd year) some were going on in the 2+2 program to UVM or some type of higher education and some were going back to family businesses or to work out in the industry. Morgan talked about how she got to where she is, her "2+2 experience," internship, college, her worst and best days on the job, reviewed the 5 c's of credit and what a lender looks for in a prospective borrower. Chris Dutton, the instructor, presented different scenarios and asked Morgan to respond how she would handle them as a lender.
On 3/19 Morgan met on a Lender Panel for the NxLevel program run byDennis Kauppila through UVM Extension. The class is made up of people that are looking to start small ag businesses. Morgan discussed what Yankee Farm Credit is and who we lend to. The lenders collectively talked about the 5 c's of credit and answered specific questions that the class had.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Annual Reports/AMIS
Our Annual Reports were mailed to members on 3-18. The Annual Meeting Information Statement will be mailed by 3-24. Annual meetings are rapidly approaching!
Friday, March 14, 2008
Annual Report
Our 2007 annual report is now available on our web site. The Association recorded net income of $6.4 million and declared a patronage refund of $3.3 million.
Printed copies of the 2007 annual report will be mailed to members by March 31.
Printed copies of the 2007 annual report will be mailed to members by March 31.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Apple Pie for Breakfast
What is a Yankee? Why, a member or employee of Yankee Farm Credit, of course!
Seriously (or maybe not), people have given a lot of thought to this question. I remember reading the answer to this question in the Burlington Free Press as a kid, and I was delighted to find the same answer in a blog post online:
I was pleased that The Old Tavern offered apple pie for breakfast at the Grafton Dairy Conference. Served with cheddar cheese from the Grafton Village Cheese Company, of course. A wonderful way to start the day!
Seriously (or maybe not), people have given a lot of thought to this question. I remember reading the answer to this question in the Burlington Free Press as a kid, and I was delighted to find the same answer in a blog post online:
For foreigners, a "yankee" is an American. For American southerners, a "yankee" is a northerner. For northerners, a "yankee" is somebody from New England. For New Englanders, a "yankee" is somebody from Vermont. For Vermonters, a "yankee" is somebody who eats apple pie for breakfast.
I was pleased that The Old Tavern offered apple pie for breakfast at the Grafton Dairy Conference. Served with cheddar cheese from the Grafton Village Cheese Company, of course. A wonderful way to start the day!
This Milk Problem
The issues discussed at the Grafton Dairy Conference are not new. All of the issues mentioned in the preceding post were discussed in detail in a booklet titled "This Milk Problem," published by UVM Extension in 1937. (Click on picture to enlarge.) Some of the best minds in Vermont have worked on "this milk problem" for over 70 years.The first sentence in this booklet is interesting: "Vermont is the only state in the United States in which the number of cattle exceeds the number of people." There were then 405,000 cattle (dairy plus beef) vs. 360,000 people. Today we have 140,000 dairy cattle as compared to 610,000 people. And Vermont dairy farmers are making twice as much milk.
Vermont has a long and rich agricultural history (5 MB PDF file), symbolized by the statue of Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, on top of the Capitol dome in Montpelier. I do not know the future of agriculture in Vermont, no one does. The most significant lesson we can learn from the past is that the future is likely to be different from today. Whatever the future brings for Vermont agriculture, the Farm Credit System will be part of it. It is the mission assigned to us by Congress.
Grafton Dairy Conference
The Vermont Agency of Agriculture and the Windham Foundation jointly sponsored the Grafton Dairy Conference on March 6-7. This was the 33rd Grafton Conference.
Over 30 people participated, representing all aspects of the Vermont dairy industry: farmers, co-ops, processors, buyers, government, education, finance and nonprofits. There was respectful, honest and vigorous discussion in groups both large and small, in organized meetings and otherwise, during nearly all waking hours. Everyone who was present deeply cares about the Vermont dairy industry.
Participants discussed the vital importance of the dairy industry to Vermont, the vital importance of the Boston market to the Vermont dairy industry, milk prices that on average are insufficient to cover costs and provide a "fair" return on farmers' capital and labor, and highly volatile milk prices.
Additional posts about the Grafton Dairy Conference: This Milk Problem, Apple Pie for Breakfast.
UPDATE: There was a follow-up meeting of the Grafton Dairy Conference on December 15-16, 2008. Click here for a report.
Over 30 people participated, representing all aspects of the Vermont dairy industry: farmers, co-ops, processors, buyers, government, education, finance and nonprofits. There was respectful, honest and vigorous discussion in groups both large and small, in organized meetings and otherwise, during nearly all waking hours. Everyone who was present deeply cares about the Vermont dairy industry.
Participants discussed the vital importance of the dairy industry to Vermont, the vital importance of the Boston market to the Vermont dairy industry, milk prices that on average are insufficient to cover costs and provide a "fair" return on farmers' capital and labor, and highly volatile milk prices.
Additional posts about the Grafton Dairy Conference: This Milk Problem, Apple Pie for Breakfast.
UPDATE: There was a follow-up meeting of the Grafton Dairy Conference on December 15-16, 2008. Click here for a report.
NHTOA Reception
The New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association (NHTOA) held a reception on March 5 at the offices of The Lyme Timber Company in Hanover, NH. The Lyme Timber Company and Yankee Farm Credit co-sponsored the reception. About 30 people attended, representing all aspects of the timber industry in NH. Making brief remarks were Peter Stein of The Lyme Timber Company, Ned Therrien, Jason Stock and me. Ned is president of the NHTOA, and Jason is the executive director. Bill Heath, Yankee's chief credit officer, also attended the reception.
The timber industry is important to Yankee, and we are pleased to support the NHTOA. Internally, when we talk about our industry concentration, we usually talk about net loan volume, because that represents the risk on our books that we need to think about. It may be more appropriate in this context to talk about gross loan volume, because that represents our presence in the market. (Click here for the definition of gross and net loan volume.)
Overall, dairy is our largest concentration, comprising 52% of gross loan volume at 12/31/07. Timber is #2 at 22%. (The corresponding net volume concentrations are 58% dairy and 14% timber.) In New Hampshire, however, timber is king, with 59% of gross loan volume--$46 million. Dairy is a distant #2 at 15%.
The timber industry is important to Yankee, and we are pleased to support the NHTOA. Internally, when we talk about our industry concentration, we usually talk about net loan volume, because that represents the risk on our books that we need to think about. It may be more appropriate in this context to talk about gross loan volume, because that represents our presence in the market. (Click here for the definition of gross and net loan volume.)
Overall, dairy is our largest concentration, comprising 52% of gross loan volume at 12/31/07. Timber is #2 at 22%. (The corresponding net volume concentrations are 58% dairy and 14% timber.) In New Hampshire, however, timber is king, with 59% of gross loan volume--$46 million. Dairy is a distant #2 at 15%.
Loan Volume Definitions
In future posts I am going to discuss characteristics of Yankee Farm Credit's loan portfolio, so let's define some terms.
Loan volume means principal balance outstanding. It does not include unused commitments (aka unused lines of credit). I may refer to loan volume on either a gross or net basis.
Gross volume is the total amount the borrower owes. Net volume is the amount that Yankee holds on its books. The difference between gross volume and net volume is what we sell to someone else.
Why do we sell a portion of our loans? We have a small number of loans, about a dozen, that are larger than is prudent for a financial institution of our size to hold in portfolio. On those loans, we keep a portion and sell the rest to other entities within the Farm Credit System.
Gross volume is the appropriate number to use when thinking about our market presence. Net volume is the appropriate number to use when thinking about the risk that is on Yankee's balance sheet.
At 12/31/07 gross volume was $349 million and we had sold $47 million, leaving a net volume of $302 million. (This was the first time that net volume reached $300 million.)
Loan volume means principal balance outstanding. It does not include unused commitments (aka unused lines of credit). I may refer to loan volume on either a gross or net basis.
Gross volume is the total amount the borrower owes. Net volume is the amount that Yankee holds on its books. The difference between gross volume and net volume is what we sell to someone else.
Why do we sell a portion of our loans? We have a small number of loans, about a dozen, that are larger than is prudent for a financial institution of our size to hold in portfolio. On those loans, we keep a portion and sell the rest to other entities within the Farm Credit System.
Gross volume is the appropriate number to use when thinking about our market presence. Net volume is the appropriate number to use when thinking about the risk that is on Yankee's balance sheet.
At 12/31/07 gross volume was $349 million and we had sold $47 million, leaving a net volume of $302 million. (This was the first time that net volume reached $300 million.)
Monday, March 3, 2008
Annual Meetings
Our annual meetings will be held in April. Please click here to pre-register for a meeting. Registration begins at 6:30pm for each location, dinner will be served.
April 7th at 7:00pm - Fireside Inn and Suites, West Lebanon, NH
April 9th at 7:00pm - Eastside Restaurant, Newport, VT
April 15th at 7:00pm - St. Albans Lodge of Elks, St. Albans, VT
April 17th at 7:00pm - Middlebury Inn, Middlebury, VT
April 7th at 7:00pm - Fireside Inn and Suites, West Lebanon, NH
April 9th at 7:00pm - Eastside Restaurant, Newport, VT
April 15th at 7:00pm - St. Albans Lodge of Elks, St. Albans, VT
April 17th at 7:00pm - Middlebury Inn, Middlebury, VT
Vermont Capital Gains Taxes
In an earlier post, I mentioned that Mike Moloney testified before the Vermont House Ways and Means Committee about proposed changes in Vermont capital gains taxes. The Burlington Free Press had a good article yesterday about this issue (although the article does not mention agriculture). Click here to read the BFP article. (link may go bad after a time)
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