Ryan Scelza

Ryan Scelza, a Credit Analyst in our White River Junction office, was recently promoted to Credit Analyst/Participation Specialist. In his new role, Ryan will be working with the Association's purchased participation portfolio while continuing to assist the branch credit staff.

Please join us in congratulating Ryan in his new role.

Richard Doremus

Richard Doremus joined the Yankee team as a Credit Analyst in the White River Junction office on Oct. 28th. Richard is from Newport, NH and earned a Bachelor's Degree in Management/Finance from Plymouth State University in Plymouth, NH.

Anna Laggis - Farm Credit Fellow

During the week of December 9-13 Yankee hosted Farm Credit Fellow Anna Laggis. Anna is a senior at Cornell University. Anna grew up on her family’s Jersey farm in Hardwick, VT. Her interest in dairy has led her to many internships, including cheese making at Jasper Hill and in Italy, cattle nutrition with Cargill, and the Fellows program with Yankee. While visiting with Yankee she visited a variety of agricultural businesses including dairy farms and logging operations. Upon graduation this spring Anna will be making a trip to Alaska for a few months before beginning work for Cargill as an Animal Nutritionist in the fall.

The photo shows Anna in her garden at home earlier in the year.

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.

Liz Bayne - Business Consultant

I am pleased to announce that Liz Bayne is Yankee Farm Credit's new Business Consultant. This new position for Yankee provides additional services to members of the agricultural community needing assistance with a variety of complex financial issues including inter-generational transfers and business planning.

Liz, who works in our White River Jct., Vermont office, brings considerable experience to this new role. She started her career with Farm Credit in 1979 and has served in a variety of roles including credit, credit review, payroll and recordkeeping services, income tax preparation, and most recently, appraisal.

Liz is a Farm Credit Tax Specialist, an Enrolled Agent with the Internal Revenue Service, and a Certified General Real Estate Appraiser licensed in New Hampshire and Vermont. Through her appraisal work and her service on the Lands Committee of the Upper Valley Land Trust, she has considerable experience with conservation easements. This wide variety of experience provides an ideal background for her new role as Business Consultant which began October 1st.

Liz will continue to have responsibilities in appraisal and tax preparation and she will continue to report to Director of Financial Services Geoff Yates. She will also work closely with consultants from Farm Credit East, particularly Bill Zweigbaum.

Please join me in congratulating Liz on her new role. We at Yankee Farm Credit are pleased to offer these additional consulting services to the agricultural community. If you have a consulting question, please contact Liz at 802-295-3670 or elizabeth.bayne@yankeeaca.com.

Director Nominations

It's that time of year again when Yankee's Nominating Committee begins selecting director candidates for the elections in April 2014. There will be one director elected in each of the three regions. Each position is for a three year term. If you would like to be considered for nomination, please contact a member of the Nominating Committee at the numbers below or call your local branch.

Region #1 (Chittenden, Franklin, Grand Isle counties, VT; Essex and Clinton counties, NY)
Arnold Mercy 802-326-4200
Wynn Paradee 802-524-4202
Mark Wrisley 518-963-4039

Region #2 (Caledonia, Essex, Lamoille, Orange, Orleans, Washington counties, VT; Coos and Grafton counties, NH)
Paul Gingue 802-748-8843
Richard Martin 802-328-4120
Patrick Waterbury 802-785-4753

Region #3 (Addison, Bennington, Rutland, Windham, Windsor counties, VT; Cheshire and Sullivan counties, NH)
David Ainsworth 802-763-8017
Bruce Bascom 603-835-6361
Kim Harvey 802-483-6130

If you have any questions about the Nominating Committee, please contact John Peters, Chief Credit Officer at 800-639-3053.

You can find general information about the director nomination process and the role of directors on the Farm Credit Administration's web site.

Tile Drainage Research Conference at Miner Institute

Miner Institute will be holding a tile drainage research conference on Thursday, October 24th from 10am to 3pm.  For more information please click here.

Fall at Yankee Farm Credit

Fall is in full swing, the leaves are changing, corn is getting chopped and it's pumpkin season! Thanks to one of our directors; Walt Gladstone, we have a personalized Yankee Farm Credit pumpkin!