Farm Credit 100: 50th Anniversary Time Capsule

In 1967, a time capsule was buried in Larned, Kansas to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Federal Land Bank system, the precursor to today's Farm Credit System. The small community in central Kansas was chosen as the site for the time capsule because it was the location of the first Farm Credit loan ever made—a loan made to finance Larned resident A.L. Stockwell’s family farm.

As part of Farm Credit 100, a celebration of the Farm Credit System’s centennial anniversary, Farm Credit recently revealed the contents of the 50^th anniversary time capsule. On February 2^nd, the time capsule was unearthed and opened for the first time in a half century. The contents included predictions about the future as well as artifacts from the early days of the Federal Land Bank system. Predictions were drawn from 12 prominent Farm Credit leaders of the 1960's and demonstrate how they imagined the world of agriculture and lending would look in the modern day. Many of the predictions correctly anticipated changes in the industry:

•  “Successful Farming in the future will increasingly demand a high degree of training and skill… not only in production techniques, but also in business and financial management."
   
•  “The more sophisticated farmers will actively participate in hedging practices on the livestock and commodity futures market, protecting themselves against adverse price movements both on what they buy and what they sell.”
   
•  “Contractual relationships between producers and processors will be commonplace. The ability to produce products with a high degree of uniformity in accordance with specified characteristics will make contracting very practical.”
   
•  “Million dollar operations will be more common than hundred thousand dollar operations are today. This of course will necessitate the use of more credit.”

Nearly one hundred years after Farm Credit helped finance his ancestor’s farm, Danny Stockwell (the great-grandson of A.L.) was in attendance on February 2^nd to help celebrate the unveiling of the capsule. He had previously attended the 1967 burial of the time capsule, and had even helped to tighten the bolts on the container before it was buried! Other people in attendance included former Kansas Senator Bob Dole, who also attended the burial in 1967, and current Kansas Senators Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran.


Later in 2016, Farm Credit will bury a new time capsule in Wichita, Kansas—to be opened at the 150^th anniversary of Farm Credit.


For more information about the time capsule unveiling as well as other Farm Credit 100 stories, please visit: http://www.farmcredit100.com/