Season's Meetings

It’s been awhile since my last update. You've been busy and I've been busy as well. One of the things that's made us busy is our annual stockholder meeting. I am still basking in the glow of the wonderful job that our staff did (I’m also still going through detox after two weeks of well-stocked buffets!)

I know I’ve said this before, but I mean it: I am so proud of our organization, our staff, and the job that we do for rural America. And spending two weeks with 1800 borrowers, staff members and community leaders really brings that pride to the forefront for me.

I always try to arrive at the meetings a little early, so that I have the opportunity to talk to as many of our borrowers as possible. The things I hear from our guests during these meetings are the things that the staff probably hears all the time from our customers—that Farm Credit feels like family, and that our staff is the best in the industry. I also hear people tell me that they would not be farming today if it wasn’t for Farm Credit…and, sometimes, our guests tell me that they would not have been able to sell the farm to their children or grandchildren if it weren’t for our cooperative. The people who share these stories with me are very emotional when they talk about what we’ve done for them…and I get a little emotional hearing them, as well.

Those kinds of stories are the kinds of things we sometimes take for granted, because we feel like we’re just doing our job. But it’s more than that—we’re helping people in a real way, we’re making a real impact on our rural communities, and we’re meeting the mission that Congress has set out for us.

I just wanted to add my thanks and gratitude to the long list of happy stories that I heard for the first two weeks in April. Thanks to our entire staff, both for helping to make the annual meetings professional, fun and a great reflection on our association, but also for all the things that the staff does every day to support their customers and their community. It is noticed, and it is appreciated.

Thanks again.