NH Risk Management Workshop

The 2012 New Hampshire Risk Management Workshop for Agricultural Professionals was held on January 13^th. Around 50 people gathered at the Holiday Inn in Concord. Jeff Temple, Vice President, and Clara Hall, Credit Analyst, represented Yankee Farm Credit at the meeting. There was also representation from the Bedford Office of Farm Credit East.

Lorraine Merrill, NH Commissioner of Agriculture, started the day off stressing the importance of collaboration and cooperation of knowledge and resources across the different agriculture agencies. She also reminded us to encourage participation in the 2012 Census. She touched on one of NH's biggest challenges, the growth of Boston and developments in New Hampshire. In the 2007 Census NH was 5^th in the nation for largest percentage of agriculture land getting developed at 10-20% (for comparison, VT is at 2-5%).

Marge Kilkelly, Deputy Director of Eastern Regional Conference/Council of State Government, followed Commissioner Merrill and discussed the 2012 Farm Bill. She brought to our attention that if the Farm Bill doesn’t go through this year there will be 37 programs lost, but she remained optimistic because there are 8 Members in the House and 3 Members in the Senate from North East Agriculture. Ms. Kilkelly expressed that her number one priority is to make a plan within the NE region.

Dave Bishop, Bedford Branch Manager, Farm Credit East, spoke next about the plan for Agriculture Credit over the next few years. He addressed the most significant influences in planning for credit as being the health and future of our customers, skilled staff, cost and availability of capital and the ability to manage risk. His take-aways for our customers were the importance of Working Capital and the need for Self Evaluation. He also noted the significance an FSA guarantee can carry for different situations.

Gene Gantz, USDA Risk Management Agency, presented on Risk Management Plans. He handed out a Risk Management Checklist (which is available at each office) that is a great planning tool for farmers, and he talked about how vital it is to know what your insurance covers so that you know what to expect when you need to cash in.

James Phinizy, the NH State Director for the Farm Service Agency, followed lunch and talked about different programs that FSA offers. Mr. Phinizy explained the Emergency response process which starts with the 5 county offices who contact farmers, extension offices and NRCS in order to compile notes. If a natural disaster is declared it is considered at a committee level first then goes to the state and then on to the national level; once it is approved applications begin to be processed. Mr. Phinizy also touched on NAP which is a non-insured assistance program available for products without current crop insurance accessible.

Greg Thompson, of Freedom Energy Logistics, educated us on ‘Deregulation’ which is not energy conservation or an increase in energy efficiency but a way to ‘pay less for what you use’. In 1999 federal government enacted a law forcing local electric utilities to allow other electricity suppliers to carry power over their lines, creating a competitive environment. There are currently 17 deregulated states, NH being one of them (VT is still regulated). Freedom Energy Logistics ‘aggregates’ individuals giving them the same advantage and buying power that big companies have and thus creating a lower cost.

Rick Ellsmore, State Conservationist with NRCS, talked briefly about programs they are working on including: the 90/10 solution (Conservation Delivery Streamline Initiative), EQUIP, WHIP, AMAP, CSP, Easement programs, and their Local Work Groups which meet and discuss needs for each county.

Lisa Townson, Assistant Director of UNH Cooperative Extension, ended the day letting us know updates with the extension office. The budget decreased by $1.7 million and because of that they have lost 23 positions since the first of the year. That being said, they are working on regionalizing and specializing their staff and will rely on grants to cover 35% of their budget. They are excited about 4 new program teams: 1) Food and Agriculture 2) Natural Resources 3) Youth and Families and 4) Community Economic Development.

2012 Director Nominees

The Nominating Committee has nominated the following individuals for director:

Region 1:
Rocklyn A. Giroux, Beekmantown, NY

Region 2:
William F. Johnson, Canaan, VT
Bradley Maxwell, Coventry, VT

Region 3:
Scott C. Mitchell, Brandon, VT
Stephen H. Taylor, Plainfield, NH

One director from each region will be elected at the 2012 Annual Meeting which will be held in four sectional meetings April 9-17, 2012. Nominations from the floor are allowed, but may be made only at the first sectional meeting on April 9 at the Lake Morey Inn. Voting members as of February 29, 2012 will be eligible to vote at Annual Meeting.

See this post for definitions of the regions and contact information for the Nominating Committee.

FarmStart - Jon and Kristie Lucas

With help from FarmStart, Jon Lucas and his family have realized their dream of owning a dairy business. Lucas Dairy, LLC purchased a 170-cow dairy herd from David Russell in Starksboro, Vermont, earlier this month.

Jon spent the past three years managing the herd with this goal in mind. This was a mutual effort between Dave and Jon. Dave spent a number of years looking for the right person to pass his business onto. Jon’s ability, commitment and passion proved him to be this person.

Jon's experience prepared him for this milestone. Jon, age 31, participated in 4-H from age 8 to 18, attended Vermont Technical College, and then spent 10 years working on dairy farms.

This is a family effort. Jon’s wife Kristie will be using the CenterPoint accounting program provided by Red Wing to do the farm records.

Jon put his business plan together and obtained the necessary financing to purchase the dairy business. His final hurdle was how to cover his startup costs, particularly while waiting for his first milk check. This is where FarmStart provided the missing piece. Lucas Dairy, LLC applied for a FarmStart investment to cover the startup costs and spring expenses.

Senior Loan Officer Sue Kelley from the Middlebury office says, "I’m very excited to be Yankee’s FarmStart Advisor for this young business!"

Urgent - IRS Mandates Disclosure for Form 1099 Filings

Understated business income is definitely an area of IRS concern. One way in which the IRS encourages the reporting of income is by requiring those making payments to individuals to report those payments on Form 1099. For 2011 tax returns, the IRS has now mandated that taxpayers indicate whether or not they have filed all required 1099s. Taxpayers and their preparers can be penalized for failing to answer this question accurately. And, of course, there continue to be penalties for the failure to file 1099s.

Don’t be surprised when your tax preparer asks you questions about your 1099 reporting. If you are currently a tax client you will be receiving a more detailed letter in the mail in the next several days. We request that you answer the questions enclosed with it and return to us so that we can properly prepare your 2011 tax return. If you are still doing your own return, be careful about answering these new questions so that you don’t receive greetings from the IRS after you file. If you need help in filing your 1099s this year, please call your local Farm Credit office.

Newsletter - Association Insider

The first edition of our new newsletter, the Association Insider, was mailed today!

Click here to read it online.

Articles include:

• Is Farming a Business or Lifestyle?
• Westlands Farm Survives Despite Irene's Wrath
• Did You Know...Yankee Offers Crop Insurance?
• Payroll Changes for 2012
• Financial Status
• Maple Pudding Cake Recipe
• FarmStart Initiative - Steven Gleason and Michelle O'Rourke

We hope you enjoy our new newsletter. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know.

Celebrating the Fruits of Local Agriculture

Each Christmas Yankee directors and employees celebrate the diversity of local agriculture with a selection of tasty food products from farmers in Yankee's territory. This year's selection included:

Sausage - from Lincoln Farm in Randolph, VT
Eggnog - from Hatchland Farm in North Haverhill, NH
Landaff Cheese - from Landaff Creamery in Landaff, NH
Maple Syrup - from Doton Farm in Barnard, VT
Fudge - from Dutton Berry Farm in Newfane, VT
Wine - from Shelburne Vineyard in Shelburne, VT
Yogurt - from Kingdom Creamery in Hardwick, VT
Cookies - from Chazy Orchards in Chazy, NY

Once again we extend our sincere appreciation to all farmers in Yankee's territory for the wonderful bounty from their farms.

David Lane and Donald Wells

David Lane has accepted the position of Senior Loan Officer in our St. Albans branch. Dave started on November 30th. He has prior lending experience as an agricultural loan officer with Vermont Agricultural Credit Corporation (a division of VEDA) and for the Vermont Community Loan Fund where he was the Director of Lending. Prior to working at VACC, David was Deputy Secretary for the Vermont Agency of Agriculture and Executive Director of the Intervale Foundation. David and his wife Julie reside in South Hero where they own Crescent Bay Farm Bed and Breakfast. Dave is a graduate of the University of Vermont.

Donald Wells has joined Yankee as a Loan Officer, also in the St. Albans branch. Don was the General Manager and Controller for CDL, USA (a Canadian maple equipment company in St. Albans) and has experience in financial management and tax preparation having worked for Hub Transportation Insurance, IBM, Jacobs, Marchand, & Morrisette and KPMG, LLP. Don grew up in Sheldon and resides in Fairfield. Don is a graduate of Champlain College.

Both Dave and Don will also serve customers in Clinton County, New York, from our Chazy satellite office along with Tom St. Pierre and Chuck Custeau.

Producing Excellence

For Farm Credit's 95th anniversary celebration it is featuring the "strength, ingenuity and integrity of our nation's successful farmers and ranchers" by creating profiles for customers across the U.S. Yankee Farm Credit is proud to feature Jim and Jane Danyow of Ferrisburg, VT in this series of stories called "Producing Excellence."

Vanda Ripley

Yankee is pleased to have Vanda Ripley join our ranks as an accounting assistant working in the Williston office. Vanda is a graduate of the University of Vermont and comes to us by way of St. Michaels College where she was a payroll specialist. In addition to payroll, Vanda also has experience as a bookkeeper and a financial analyst. All of her experiences will help her handle the responsibilities of accounts payable, fixed assets and general ledger reconciliation, among many other duties.

Vanda currently lives in Underhill with her husband David and their son Parker. They also have a daughter, Emily, who lives in New Jersey. When not crunching numbers, Vanda enjoys being an amateur logger and reading her Kindle on the treadmill.

FarmStart - Corey and Ann Chapman

Yankee recently made its third FarmStart investment to Corey and Ann Chapman of Tunbridge, VT:

Corey, age 32, has worked on dairy farms all of his life. In addition he served in the military for 6 years (he returned from a year long deployment in Afghanistan last December) and he ran his own concrete business. Corey’s wife Ann is currently a stay at home mom and is expecting their fourth child in February. Corey also does some snow plowing which provides additional income during the winter months.

During the 10 years that he worked for a local dairy farmer, Corey decided that dairy farming was what he wanted to do with his life. After he returned from Afghanistan last year he began managing a herd with the hope to buy the animals down the road. The opportunity to purchase those animals presented itself this fall.

Corey purchased a 50 cow organic Holstein herd with annual production of over 22,000 lbs/cow. He will rent the facilities and will have access to 60 acres of pasture land. Along with conventional financing, Corey applied for an investment through FarmStart to help fund the purchase of the herd.

Yankee's FarmStart Advisor for the Chapmans is Morgan Greenwood Rilling, a loan officer in the White River Jct. office. Morgan says: "The Chapmans are the type of people that the FarmStart program was designed for and their eagerness and drive makes me look forward to being their advisor. They were excited to be given the opportunity to have someone work with them on the financial aspects of their business and felt that they could benefit greatly from a relationship with FarmStart."