FarmStart - Taylor Acquaviva

Taylor Acquaviva is Yankee’s most recent FarmStart investment. Taylor will be using the funds to purchase a vat pasteurizer and start his own cheese making operation, Livewater Dairy, which will focus on providing organic, grass fed dairy products, specializing in fresh mozzarella and also producing butter and other value added products. Taylor’s family previously made mozzarella cheese on the farm years ago, which enables him to have access to a state-approved processing facility that is conveniently located 20 yards from the milk house.

Livewater Dairy is located in Putney, VT. Taylor plans on utilizing his family’s existing farm stand to help promote his products, as well as attending numerous farmers markets and building relationships with restaurants and co-ops across southern Vermont.

Taylor is pictured below standing in front of greenhouses that he also owns and grows veggies in:

Taylor is excited to begin his new venture and has a great support system that will enable him to be successful. His parents will be able to provide guidance with the processing and marketing aspects of the operation and Taylor also has a valuable connection with a Master Cheese maker in the area who is looking forward to acting as his mentor as he gets started.

Loan Officer Ryan Scelza worked with Taylor to make this FarmStart investment. As Ryan is regretfully leaving Yankee Farm Credit, Loan Officer April Smith will be the continuing FarmStart advisor.

The goal of FarmStart is to provide working capital to help start-up farmers establish a positive business and credit history during the early phases of their business careers. Within five years recipients should be positioned to graduate to a conventional line of credit from Yankee or another lender.

To learn more about FarmStart please visit our website or contact your local office.

Agri-Women Conference at Miner

Please see the below for information about an upcoming conference for women in agriculture being held at Miner Institute March 27-28, 2015.

2014 Patronage Refund

Yankee Farm Credit had another good year in 2014. The Board of Directors has approved a patronage refund for 2014 of $4,641,000, which is 1.00% of average member loan volume. Although the patronage pool is not quite as large as the previous two years, the Board feels it is important to maintain a strong balance sheet for your Association.

Payment of the patronage refund is dependent on the satisfactory completion of the 2014 audit and the Association's receipt of its 2014 patronage refund from CoBank. We anticipate both of these will be completed in March. Members should expect their checks to be mailed around March 25th. Those who are signed up to receive their refund electronically should see it hit their accounts on March 27th. If you do not receive your payment please contact your local office or click here to e-mail us.

To all those who contributed to Yankee's success in 2014, thank you!

Dairy Stockmanship Workshops

Yankee recently helped sponsor workshops hosted by UVM Extension and Ben and Jerry's Caring Dairy Program. The workshops, held in Vermont and New York, focused on dairy stockmanship. Dairy stockmanship is low stress, safe, positive, efficient animal handling that improves the outcome for both the animal and people. The workshops were led by Don Höglund, DVM.

Across The Fence had an interesting interview with Dr. Höglund, Dr. Julie Smith of UVM Extension, and Rachel Gilker of Caring Dairy on 1/29/15 (15:09):

Dairy Stockmanship and Low-stress Handling

Arlington Hazen RIP

Arlington Hazen, known to all as Arl, passed away on January 28, 2015, at age 93. Click here for the obituary.

Arl was President of Champlain Valley Farm Credit* (and its predecessors) from 1973 to 1986. He began his Farm Credit career in 1955 in the Middlebury office of what was then the Farmers Production Credit Association of Burlington.

The memorial service was today in the United Methodist Church in Shelburne. Rev. Gregory Smith officiated, and he told about how he discovered that he had a connection to Arl that he hadn’t known about:

Click here for Rev. Gregory Smith’s comments pertaining to Farm Credit

I spoke about Arl’s legacy at Farm Credit:

Click here for my comments

Several current and former employees attended the memorial service, as well as Paul Eddy, former Chairman of the Board.

The memorial service included family remembrances, Masonic rites, and military honors.

Arl lived a rich, full life and he will be missed by family, friends and colleagues.

*Champlain Valley Farm Credit was one of the two associations that merged on January 1, 1995 to form Yankee Farm Credit. The other association was Farm Credit of the Connecticut Valley.

Association Insider - Winter 2014 Edition

Our latest issue of the Association Insider is now available on our website.  Please click here to read about:

• New Yankee Offices, Same Great Service
• Middlebury Office a Nice Fit
• Yankee Offers QuickBooks Courses
• Financially Related Services - We Work Hard to Stay Current
• Look for Yankee at the Upcoming Events
• Scholarship Winners 
• Tax Reporting Deadlines
• Employee News 
• Spring Crop Insurance
• FarmStart Initiative 

2015 Director Nominees

One of the things that makes Yankee successful is a strong board of directors. Our Nominating Committee is dedicated to providing a diverse selection of candidates for members to vote on. At our upcoming annual meetings in April there will be four positions to vote for: three 3-year terms, one in each region; and a 1-year term for Region 3. The 1-year position this year is to fill the remainder of the term of director Paul Saenger, who unfortunately passed away in October.

The Nominating Committee met yesterday to interview potential candidates for director.

The following members were nominated for the three 3-year terms:

Region 1
Rocklyn Giroux (incumbent)
Dr. Marco Turco

Region 2
Samuel Lincoln
Bradley Maxwell (incumbent)

Region 3
David Folino
Theodore Foster (subsequently removed his name from consideration)
Stephen Taylor (incumbent)

The following members were nominated for the 1-year term:

Region 3
Jane Clifford
Rene Saenger
Miles Tudhope

Below is a map of the director regions (click on the map to enlarge):

If you are interested in running for director in the future, we encourage you to contact anyone on the Nominating Committee. See page 49 of the annual report for names and contact information. Thank you to the Nominating Committee members and to the candidates for director for their time and devotion to providing an excellent slate of candidates for the membership to vote on.

Sharing Success Contribution to 4-H

Yankee Farm Credit and CoBank recently donated $5,000 each to 4-H in NY, NH and VT to help support a Tri-State Career Exploration Tour focused on Food Systems. 

CoBank’s contribution is part of their “Sharing Success” program, a $3 million matching grant program designed to benefit cooperatives and charitable groups they support throughout rural America. CoBank launched this program in 2012 to coincide with the United Nations “International Year of Cooperatives.” 

George Putnam, President and CEO, Rocky Giroux, Chairperson, Kurt Reichelt, UVM Annual Fund Officer

The tour will allow for fifty to one hundred 4-H members, in grades 7-12, to learn about careers that support the food chain––from food enterprises, marketing and promotion, lab-based research and technology, financial management and more. The overall outcome is for youth to gain an increased understanding of what careers are possible in the agricultural sector beyond farming and to learn what sort of education and skills are necessary for those careers.  Specific details about the tour are still evolving, but the contribution of $10,000 will be used to help pay for transportation, lodging and other expenses.  The planning team consists of 4-H Educators from the University of New Hampshire, Cornell University and the University of Vermont.

UPDATE 1/15/15: There is an article about 4-H in today's Burlington Free Press: "Not your grandmother's 4-H club."

UPDATE 2/17/15: Click here for a news release about this donation published in the Rutland Herald on 2/13/15.

Promotion - Jesse Taft

Please join us in congratulating Jesse Taft on his promotion to Credit Analyst for our Commercial Lending Division.  Jesse began his career at Yankee as a part-time clerical position and quickly made himself part of the team in the White River office.  After a brief time as a part timer he was hired as a full time Financial Services Assistant.  Jesse passed the 1A Assistant Tax Specialist exam and also the Payroll Specialist exam.  He jumped into writing posts for the blog and has become a valuable member of our newsletter group.  Jesse was excited about the creation of our commercial lending department and after some consideration opted to apply his analytical skills as a credit analyst.    

Jesse graduated from Wesleyan University with a B.A. in history and resides in Cornish NH with his wife Holly and their three children, Ayla, Marin and Abe.  

Career Opportunity - Office Assistant, St. Albans, VT

Yankee Farm Credit, a leading provider of credit and financial services to the agricultural community in Vermont, western NH and the Champlain Valley of NY is looking for someone who is passionate about agriculture and who wants to be involved with supporting local farm businesses to ensure their success.

The Office Assistant assists the branch credit function including the complete and timely preparation of loan documents, assisting loan officers with closing loans, and maintaining organized loan files per Association guidelines. Other duties include processing credit life insurance, tracking casualty insurance on collateral, and key-person life insurance. General office administrative support includes bank account reconciliation, GL accounting, and ordering office supplies.

The desired individual will hold an Associate's degree in accounting, business or a related field. Prior experience helpful but not required. Applicants having relevant experience will also be considered. 

For a more detailed job description, please visit our website at https://www.yankeeaca.com/en/About-Us/Career-Opportunities.aspx

To be considered for this position please send a cover letter and resume to:
Ruchel St. Hilaire, Yankee Farm Credit, P.O. Box 467 Williston, VT 05495 or reply via e-mail

Yankee Farm Credit offers a full, comprehensive benefits package.
EO/AA Employer- M/F/D/V