These are challenging times in agriculture. CoBank CEO Thomas Halverson is surveying the situation and asking himself key questions. “Is this a cyclical thing? Which will be reversed through normal application of market forces over the next six, 12, 18 months or is there something else going on that would make this more of a structural thing that’s going to last multiple years and, not going to be resolved by markets clearing in the normal market forces kind of way?” Halverson believes these issues get more complicated as farmers get closer to making decisions for next year. CoBank is one of the largest private providers of credit to the U.S. rural economy. The Red River Farm Network asked Halverson about the current farm financial situation. “Our financial and operating performance is very strong. I’m very comfortable and confident in it, but I would tell you that the credit quality has, has softened some, and we’ve had more realized credit losses this year than we’ve had in quite a few years.” Halverson is a member of the Commission on U.S. Rural Prosperity, which hosted a field hearing on Wednesday near Casselton. Listen to the full interview.
