The nation’s farm banks increased agricultural lending by 5.3 percent, or $5.5 billion, to $108 billion in 2018, according to the ABA’s annual Farm Bank Performance Report released Tuesday. With non-performing loans remaining at a pre-recession level of .52 percent of total loans, asset quality was also healthy among the nation’s 1,772 farm banks.

The SDBA will appoint standing committee members for the upcoming year in May. SDBA committees are: Agricultural Credit Committee, Credit Card Committee, Legislative Committee and Trust Committee. Terms are one year beginning May 1, 2019, and ending April 30, 2020, except for the Legislative Committee which is a three-year term. Legislative committee members can serve two, consecutive three-year terms.

As a volunteer for your Association, you will be contributing to a stronger banking industry. We respect the time commitment that each committee member has made and work hard to ensure the meetings are well run and productive. Committees meet once or twice a year to initiate activities and recommend policy.

The SDBA's Agricultural Credit Conference originally set for April 10-12 but canceled due to weather has been rescheduled to Aug. 14-16 at the Ramkota Hotel & Conference Center in Pierre. Conference content will be the same as the April agenda with slight changes to the order of some sessions. 

Registrations for the original conference date will carry forward to the new date. If the new date does not work for any registrants, they may cancel with no penalty. If you were not able to attend the original conference dates but can now attend, there is still room to attend. See the revised Agricultural Credit Conference agenda.

Chatbots? Machine learning? Open banking? Faster payments? Should you replace your staff with chatbots or showcase your staff within digital channels? How will the arrival of real-time payments change existing bank products and services? Are bigtechs or digital challenger banks a bigger threat than megabanks? And how will you strategically differentiate your bank from the competition?

The SDBA will appoint standing committee members for the upcoming year in May. SDBA committees are: Agricultural Credit Committee, Credit Card Committee, Legislative Committee and Trust Committee. Terms are one year beginning May 1, 2019, and ending April 30, 2020, except for the Legislative Committee which is a three-year term. Legislative committee members can serve two, consecutive three-year terms.

SDSU Extension is bringing two different types of farm stress workshops to the state.

Communicating with Farmers Under Stress: Join a multi-disciplinary team of SDSU Extension experts to explore the subject of farm stress, a subject that’s affecting the lives of many South Dakota farmers and their families. The primary audience for this workshop includes professionals who work with or support farmers and farm families, such as inspectors, financial advisers and those associated with farm service type agencies.  This workshop will be held on April 15 in Aberdeen, Sioux Falls, Pierre and Rapid City and on May 23 in Lemmon, Winner, Watertown and Mitchell from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. CDT.  The cost to attend is $30, and lunch will be provided. Register for an April 15 location. Register for a May 23 location. 

The SDBA's Agricultural Credit Conference scheduled for this week in Pierre has been postponed due to the weather. The SDBA is currently working on a new conference date for late summer/early fall.

Once a new date is determined, registrations for the original conference date will carry forward to the new date. If the new date does not work for any registrants, they may cancel with no penalty. We ask that registrants wait to see if the new date will work for their schedules before canceling. Be watching for an announcement next week on the new date for the SDBA Agricultural Credit Conference. 

ABA’s annual Washington Summit and several related programs began Monday, with more than 1,300 attendees, including bankers from South Dakota. The formal Summit program opened Tuesday morning with keynote presentations by House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers Kevin Hassett and  Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho). 

Ag bankers can learn about positioning for success in the economic reset at the SDBA's Agricultural Credit Conference next week in Pierre.

The conference will open Wednesday, April 10, with pre-conference workshop "Implementing Farmer Mac as Part of Your Ag Lending Strategy in South Dakota." Learn about Farmer Mac’s tools available, including its new AgXpress scorecard program, a simplified loan application process with minimal documentation and attractive pricing. Farmer Mac will also review popular products, the current interest rate environment, and dive into some recent South Dakota loan sale transactions. The workshop will be followed by a reception with exhibitors. 

Recognizing the serious effects of flooding in the Midwest and Great Plains, federal and state financial regulatory agencies on Monday issued a joint statement reminding banks of supervisory expectations related to disaster recovery. Regulators encouraged banks to work constructively to meet the financial needs of their communities.

Rep. Steve Watkins (R-Kan.) on Tuesday introduced the Enhancing Credit Opportunities for Rural America Act (H.R. 1872), which would end taxation of interest earned from agricultural real estate loans. This ABA-advocated bill would provide rural bankers with the same tax status as Farm Credit System lenders when making loans secured by ag real estate, thus leveling the playing field between banks and the tax-advantaged FCS.

“Small town lenders are crucial to the viability of rural America. Community banks and their ag customers have unfortunately had to adjust to years of weak commodity prices while family farm debts have become increasingly highly-leveraged. In fact, farm delinquencies are sadly at their highest rate in nine years. This timely legislation would give greater certainty to small town folks by enhancing and expanding rural access to credit,” said Congressman Watkins.

SDSU Extension is inviting ag loan officers to participate in its 2019 Ag Land Value Survey. Data collected from this survey is compiled and used by many industry professionals and producers alike. The survey, which has been ongoing since 1991, will be open through April 14.

As the House Financial Services Committee yesterday held a hearing on financial crimes, ABA joined eight other financial trade organizations in a letter to committee leaders highlighting the need for a national beneficial ownership registry.

The hotel block for the SDBA's Agricultural Credit Conference to be held on April 10-12 at the Ramkota Hotel & Conference Center in Pierre will be released on Monday, March 18.

This conference focuses on the unique needs of ag bankers and the need for quality information and training to better serve their customers. The SDBA has lined up speakers on a variety of timely topics to help ag bankers navigate through challenging times. Experienced and new ag lenders, as well as CEOs, will all benefit from this conference.

In response to the growing need for well-trained cybersecurity experts across the industry, U.S. Bank grants cybersecurity scholarships each year to educate future technology leaders. Twelve such scholarships were recently awarded, providing funds for education and training in all areas of cybersecurity—from information security, to big data, business and beyond.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Monday requested public feedback on Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loans, a controversial type of financing that allows homeowners to pay for energy-efficient retrofitting—such as solar panels and high-efficiency air conditioners—through their property tax assessments, and which often take lien priority over the first mortgage lien.

Elections for the SDBA’s Board of Directors are scheduled for April. Two directors have terms that expire on April 30, 2019, in addition to a vacancy. Elections will take place in Groups 1, 3 and 4.

Terms for Kristina Schaefer, First Bank & Trust, Sioux Falls, (Group I) and Dave Nelson, First Fidelity Bank, Platte, (Group III) will expire on April 30. Both have served one, three-year term and are eligible to run for a second, three-year term. The Group IV seat is currently vacant as this seat was previously held by SDBA Vice Chairman Steve Bumann, BankWest, Pierre. 

Craig Hansen with Citibank, N.A., Sioux Falls, has been appointed to the SDBA Board of Directors as the director representing banks in the Credit Card Bank Category. He fills a seat previously held by Rick Nath.

As the interim site president of Citi in Sioux Falls, Hansen is responsible for driving and executing site governance, people strategy, site culture and community involvement. In addition to his duties as site president, he is also a managing director responsible for the global digital software architecture in the consumer bank. In addition to U.S. sites, Hansen also has teams in Mexico City and Singapore responsible for the regional design and governance of Citi’s strategic digital programs.

The SDBA invites its business partners to FOCUS FORWARD at the 2019 SDBA/NDBA Annual Convention on June 2-4 at the Sioux Falls Convention Center & Sheraton Sioux Falls.