Oklahoma Farm Reports Maci Carter recently spoke with Christy Seyfert, the President and CEO of the Farm Credit Council, gaining insights into Farm Credit’s top priorities for the upcoming farm bill and their broader support for agricultural communities.
Seyfert began by emphasizing the urgent need for a new and improved farm bill. “We are way overdue to have a really stronger farm bill in place, and so we are looking forward to working with Congress to try and get a farm bill with a stronger farm safety net. That’s very important for our row crop producers, especially those who are financially distressed right now.”
She also highlighted the importance of strengthening the credit title within the bill. “We also want a strengthened credit title in the farm bill meeting. Let’s modernize credit loan limits. For example, we want to have better access to credit, especially as we look at the challenges in farm country right now, making sure that farmers have the resources they need, and that we have the resources that we need to help them restructure, in some cases, and respond to the challenges in farm country.”
Beyond the farm bill, Seyfert stressed the critical need for tax extenders legislation to pass. “We hope tax extenders legislation gets across the finish line this year as well. Farmers and consumers don’t need tax provisions to expire and have a big tax bill next year. We are cheering Congress on to get provisions that are really important to farm country across the finish line.”
She elaborated on the existing economic pressures facing farmers. “We’ve seen crop prices down, but input costs are not necessarily following suit, and then there are uncertainties, market uncertainties, and market access uncertainties. Certainly, there are a lot of things weighing on farmers’ minds, and so we want to make sure that farmers have tools to address those, whether it’s tax or farm bill, and not have expenses go up even further just because of a failure to act.”
A significant concern for Farm Credit is the mental health crisis within the agricultural community. “We are very concerned right now about the challenges in farm country as they relate to mental health. Farmers, unfortunately, have a three-and-a-half times greater chance of committing suicide. It is truly heartbreaking, and we have invested in resources available to farmers, whether peer-to-peer, networking, anonymous networking, training, or other resources. We want to ensure farmers have the tools to get the help they need. We don’t want them to feel like there’s no hope because hope and help exist.”
Seyfert detailed some of the resources Farm Credit provides. “I should mention that we have our resources listed on our website under our community engagement menu, and there are various resources there. So as I mentioned, the peer-to-peer networking, anonymous networking available through certain organizations, and training for farmers, but also for Farm Credit employees, looking to identify and help spot those challenges where they need to weigh in. There’s also a very powerful documentary on our website. Out of the Shadows is a documentary to showcase the crisis in rural America as it relates to mental health and the need for families, friends, and others in agriculture to get the help they need before the crisis truly hits home.”
Farm Credit is also actively working to improve access to capital, particularly for young and beginning farmers. “We are working every day to advance our mission, promote our mission, and live out our mission of providing consistent and reliable credit and financial services to agriculture in rural America. Today and tomorrow and for over 100 years, Farm Credit has helped farmers through good times and bad, and we are going to continue to work to advance our mission, also with that focus on young and beginning and small farmers.”
Seyfert highlighted the extensive reach of Farm Credit. “We are very fortunate to provide credit and financial services to over 600,000 customer owners nationwide and in Puerto Rico as well and many of those are those young, beginning and small, and we want to continue working with them, but also those who need help restructuring in this difficult financial time to make sure that they can continue operating, if that’s what they choose to do.”
In closing, Seyfert emphasized Farm Credit’s commitment to supporting rural communities. “We are the eyes and ears in Washington, D.C., here at Farm Credit Council. We have folks all across the country who are not only providing credit and financial services, but they are also on the ground, supporting rural communities, investing time in FFA and 4-H, and other organizations. These salt-of-the-earth people who work for Farm Credit will continue doing all they can to support rural communities. We’re going to do all we can in Washington, D.C., to make sure that we are advancing and protecting that mission, but also being a reliable and consistent voice for Farm Credit.”
For more information about Farm Credit Council’s mission, click here.
