YOUNG, BEGINNING, AND SMALL FARMER & RANCHER PROGRAM (UNAUDITED)
American AgCredit offers Young, Beginning, and Small (YBS) farmers and ranchers opportunities to invest in, build, and support their agribusiness. Through specific, tailored programs designed to meet the credit and related needs of YBS customers and potential customers in our chartered territory, we provide various layers of support throughout this market.
To facilitate credit offerings to this specialized customer base, we support financing programs and use government-guaranteed loan programs. We are actively involved in developing and sponsoring educational opportunities, leadership training, business financial training, and insurance services for YBS farmers and ranchers.
Per FCA regulations, qualified YBS programs serve farmers and ranchers by one or more of the following categories:
demographics
Young: A farmer, rancher, or producer or harvester of aquatic products who is age 35 or younger Beginning: A farmer, rancher, or producer or harvester of aquatic products who has 10 years or less farming or ranching experience Small: A farmer, rancher, or producer or harvester of aquatic products who normally generates less than $250,000 in annual gross sales of agricultural or aquatic products
our ybs mission
Our mission is to provide credit and related services tailored to the specific needs of the YBS market via the following: • Support of AgYouth Programs: Interest-free financing to young people for 4-H and Future Farmers of America (FFA) projects • Host training focused on legacy and business continuity planning for generations of farmers and ranchers. Training provided free of charge for customers • Support of youth programs in the community: Outreach and sponsorship of ag-related educational activities, such as ag training, exhibits, and other outreach • Promote YBS program information, including web pages, brochures, and ad slicks: Awareness of programs to support new businesses and encourage young people to get involved in agriculture • Provide scholarships to college students interested in working in or studying courses related to agriculture • Offer paid internships: Professional training and paid work experience provided to young professionals interested in learning about opportunities in the agricultural industry, including financing, marketing, and communication
86
AMERICAN AGCREDIT
|
2021 ANNUAL REPORT
To ensure that these groups are adequately serviced, demographic research known as AgCensus is completed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture every five years, and those demographics are compared to our borrower base. Part of adequately serving these segments is understanding how farming is changing within the Association’s lending territory. The latest data available is from the 2017 AgCensus (released in April 2019). It shows the number of farms within our chartered territory has declined more than 3.2% from 117,380 to 113,656. At the same time, overall farm size (acreage) has increased, marking a trend toward fewer but larger farms. Nationally, the number of young farmers, both primary and cooperators, increased from 2012. In our territory, young farmers comprise about 8.0% of total farm operators. Beginning farm operators comprise 28.0% of the market in our territory, while small farm operators comprise 85.0% of the farms in the market. A few significant changes over the last five years include the following: • The number of young farm operators did increase, but at the same time the average operator age increased. Farmers older than 65 now outnumber farmers younger than 35 by a 6:1 ratio. • The number of beginning farmers increased, but the average age of a beginning farmer in 2017 was just over 46. • The number of small farms increased from 2012. Many of the small farms reported being involved in commodities such as fruits, vegetables, and small livestock.
exception program
The Association’s YBS Exception Program is tailored for those ag businesses that do not meet all underwriting criteria and exhibit higher-than-normal risk factors. The Exception Program offers unique financing criteria and additional benefits. This includes additional business support, education, training, and other incentives – allowing them to strengthen and prosper and, in the process, to develop avenues for the Association to fulfill its mission and serve all fields and levels of agriculture.
