Young, Beginning and Small Farmers Symposium Welcome Remarks

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11/17/2021 Added

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Welcome Remarks from the Young, Beginning and Small Farmer Symposium on Nov. 8, 2021

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[00:00:04.100]Okay, well, good morning.
[00:00:05.880]My name's Mike Boehm,
[00:00:07.250]vice chancellor for the Institute of Ag
[00:00:09.160]and Natural Resources,
[00:00:10.570]and also vice president for Ag and Natural Resources
[00:00:14.810]at the University of Nebraska.
[00:00:17.570]Welcome to this a day long event
[00:00:20.470]that we have been excited to plan for
[00:00:24.130]and to bring you here to Lincoln,
[00:00:27.010]and in fact, through live streaming
[00:00:29.940]across all of Nebraska and beyond.
[00:00:33.430]I haven't gotten the count yet
[00:00:34.970]on how many folks are joining us via live stream,
[00:00:38.490]but it's our pleasure
[00:00:40.140]along with the Farm Credit Administration
[00:00:44.350]with our colleague, Chairman Glen Smith,
[00:00:47.780]to co-host this event.
[00:00:49.680]This is a big deal in Nebraska,
[00:00:52.260]it's a big deal across rural America,
[00:00:55.860]it's a big deal for urban America,
[00:00:58.910]focusing on young, small and beginning farmers and ranchers
[00:01:05.830]in agriculture.
[00:01:08.200]I think as the day goes on,
[00:01:10.450]we will hear from those who fall into those categories
[00:01:15.260]about what's working for them, what's not working for them.
[00:01:18.950]We'll hear about what the federal programs
[00:01:21.200]and the state programs that are available.
[00:01:24.040]We'll hear from Farm Credit Services,
[00:01:26.220]we'll hear from independent banks and lenders
[00:01:29.530]to really understand what's working and what's not.
[00:01:34.660]It falls within the context,
[00:01:36.500]however of prosperity in rural Nebraska
[00:01:39.410]and rural America.
[00:01:41.260]This morning, the chairman and I
[00:01:43.730]co-hosted a group of individuals
[00:01:46.660]from all walks of life across Nebraska,
[00:01:49.500]really focused on rural health care,
[00:01:53.100]including mental wellbeing and mental health.
[00:01:56.210]But that was just a piece.
[00:01:57.710]We covered a wide range of topics to include housing,
[00:02:02.700]access to education, broadband,
[00:02:05.770]logistics, road, grocery stores, you name it,
[00:02:10.180]the complete package around what it takes
[00:02:13.080]for a small town America
[00:02:16.340]connected to producing the food, the fuel,
[00:02:19.400]the feed and the fiber that really drives America
[00:02:23.660]and beyond.
[00:02:24.770]We talked a lot too in that session about the codependency
[00:02:28.400]between rural and urban.
[00:02:31.700]And sometimes we get in especially now
[00:02:34.620]in somewhat of a polarized place in us versus them dynamic
[00:02:38.550]and really just talked a lot about that codependency,
[00:02:42.200]the importance of people
[00:02:43.410]knowing where their food, fuel, feed and fiber comes from
[00:02:46.850]and linking it back.
[00:02:48.629]We talked about that gradient.
[00:02:51.840]So a little bit about this today.
[00:02:54.460]This is really an informal,
[00:02:56.160]so great seeing the audience.
[00:02:59.835]We had 162 folks register,
[00:03:03.330]I think mostly for the lunch in the free parking,
[00:03:05.680]if I had to guess,
[00:03:07.020]and then we have this video linked and video streamed.
[00:03:10.590]We'll have access for folks who are online,
[00:03:14.450]we're monitoring the chat group, chat box.
[00:03:17.500]So if you have questions,
[00:03:19.820]if you have something that you'd like us to see,
[00:03:22.400]please put it in the chat box.
[00:03:24.090]For folks who are physically in the room,
[00:03:26.650]there are some pens and some note cards.
[00:03:29.650]So please jot down questions and jot down thoughts.
[00:03:35.056]When we get to the Q&A, we'll have floating microphone.
[00:03:37.820]So if you've been to a (indistinct) lecture,
[00:03:39.870]like the one that we had right in this very room
[00:03:42.120]with Frank Mitloehner from UC Davis,
[00:03:45.060]just a couple of weeks ago.
[00:03:47.370]So it'll operate very much like a (indistinct) lecture.
[00:03:52.960]You're at tables, you're at round tables for a reason,
[00:03:55.590]not in long rows of chairs.
[00:03:58.140]So we do want, and hopefully we can build in.
[00:04:03.250]Chairman Smith and I will be moderating.
[00:04:05.260]So we'll probably before we go to a Q&A,
[00:04:08.800]give you a few minutes to decompress
[00:04:10.929]and think and talk through some things,
[00:04:13.600]and then we can maybe even get
[00:04:15.010]some table perspective questions.
[00:04:17.450]Each session is an hour
[00:04:19.280]and it will be broken up with 15-minute breaks.
[00:04:22.990]Welcome to the great plains room
[00:04:24.970]and the newly expanded and renovated East Campus Union.
[00:04:30.380]The restrooms are right out these doors when you came in.
[00:04:34.210]If you go around, in fact, if you sneak through that door
[00:04:37.490]at the back of the room and go through another door,
[00:04:39.660]there's another set of restrooms that are there.
[00:04:42.320]Many of you have found Starbucks.
[00:04:45.010]There is now over for those who prefer Dunkin' Donuts.
[00:04:48.700]There's a new Dunkin' Donuts across the way.
[00:04:52.110]I think we have donuts perhaps
[00:04:54.340]guessing from Dunkin' here this morning.
[00:04:56.320]And for those of you who are really looking for a treat,
[00:04:59.840]the newly renovated expanded UNL dairy store
[00:05:03.710]is open for business at 10 o'clock.
[00:05:05.880]So if you're looking for ice cream for breakfast,
[00:05:08.480]there you go.
[00:05:09.740]So we'll have two sessions and then we'll break for lunch.
[00:05:13.460]It's a networking lunch,
[00:05:14.740]and then we'll get on with it at 1:30.
[00:05:18.320]Two sessions this afternoon, and then a wrap up.
[00:05:21.820]Okay, with all of that said, my understanding
[00:05:25.730]of kind of the Genesis of this, and chairman Smith,
[00:05:28.840]you can correct me Glen, if I got this wrong,
[00:05:33.060]but Congressman Fortenberry was I think, in a hearing,
[00:05:38.420]and I think the chairman was there.
[00:05:42.490]And as we've come accustomed with Congressman Fortenberry,
[00:05:47.840]I believe that Congressman Fortenberry
[00:05:50.380]said something at some point to the chairman,
[00:05:53.287]"We would love to host you in Nebraska, Mr. Chairman,
[00:05:56.587]"and about these really important issues
[00:05:59.067]"that are vital to our young, beginning
[00:06:01.327]"and small farmers and ranchers.
[00:06:03.457]"And I'll throw processors in there as well,
[00:06:06.037]"because we have 80 lockers,
[00:06:08.097]"both custom in USDA inspected here in Nebraska.
[00:06:12.194]"And COVID helped us understand the importance
[00:06:14.586]"of local processing facilities."
[00:06:18.870]But there was an offer made and then COVID hit.
[00:06:21.930]And then earlier this summer, this resurfaced.
[00:06:26.030]And so we put together a team
[00:06:29.160]between the Farm Credit Administration
[00:06:31.440]and the University of Nebraska,
[00:06:33.450]and we brought together and I can claim no credit for this,
[00:06:37.470]an amazing group of people who thought long and hard
[00:06:40.350]for the last 12 weeks about who would be good
[00:06:44.120]to bring in and what the topics were.
[00:06:46.720]And so that's how the four panels came to be.
[00:06:49.920]So that's the Genesis of the session.
[00:06:53.050]While he couldn't be with us,
[00:06:54.880]Congressman Jeff Fortenberry has videotaped, a welcome,
[00:06:59.200]and we'll go to that, it's about four and a half minutes.
[00:07:03.410]Hi, this is Congressman Jeff Fortenberry.
[00:07:05.190]And first of all,
[00:07:06.023]let me welcome all of you who are attending the conference
[00:07:08.230]at the University of Nebraska
[00:07:09.580]on Young and Beginning and Small Farmers.
[00:07:12.840]I'm very excited that you're there.
[00:07:14.680]And let me thank my good friend, Dr. Mike Boehm,
[00:07:17.590]vice chancellor of research at the university,
[00:07:19.560]as well as a Chairman Smith
[00:07:21.920]of the Farm Credit Administration for hosting today's event.
[00:07:25.710]It's a really, really important initiative
[00:07:27.990]that's going on here.
[00:07:29.240]For a number of years,
[00:07:30.380]Congress has passed legislation
[00:07:32.010]and funded a beginning farmers initiatives
[00:07:35.250]financing, and otherwise
[00:07:36.970]to help with a situation in America
[00:07:40.450]given the average age of the farmers about 58 years old,
[00:07:43.630]and only about 10% of farmers are under the age of 35.
[00:07:47.750]But in addition to that,
[00:07:49.250]we are all about trying to grow the ag family.
[00:07:53.220]Production agriculture,
[00:07:54.460]traditional means of production, of course
[00:07:56.050]is the mainstay and the backbone of this competitive,
[00:07:59.350]amazing use, utilization of our natural resources
[00:08:02.680]as gifts in America,
[00:08:04.470]along with the innovation of our farmers and ranchers,
[00:08:06.760]we lead the world in terms of the lowest grocery prices.
[00:08:09.740]In fact, we produce so much food commodities
[00:08:12.440]that we are able to meet our charitable impulse
[00:08:15.480]by giving away about $2 billion worth of food
[00:08:18.730]around the world to the world's poor.
[00:08:21.090]This also helps us with diplomacy
[00:08:22.870]and creating conditions for stability.
[00:08:25.490]So what we wanna do here today
[00:08:27.310]is talk about the practical realities
[00:08:30.030]of financing and other available programs
[00:08:32.610]that are available to you
[00:08:34.540]if you're starting a farm
[00:08:35.940]or thinking about small scale agriculture.
[00:08:38.650]Your initiatives, your innovation, your entrepreneurship,
[00:08:41.320]your ideas are essential again to growing the ag family
[00:08:45.010]and creating localized economies
[00:08:47.440]where we are connecting the farmer to the family
[00:08:50.540]and the food to the school,
[00:08:52.630]and re-establishing this rural-urban economic dynamic
[00:08:57.160]with healthy, nutritious, fresh foods.
[00:09:00.690]This has huge complimentary benefits again for our economy
[00:09:04.280]for opportunity for you,
[00:09:06.210]but also dovetails very nicely
[00:09:08.230]with some of the new advancing research
[00:09:10.200]that's going on at the university.
[00:09:12.670]We are undertaking a new project
[00:09:15.030]in concert with the university called Farmer of the Future.
[00:09:18.310]We have something in Washington
[00:09:19.290]called the Agricultural Research Service
[00:09:20.960]that does all types of research across this nation.
[00:09:23.560]And hopefully very soon,
[00:09:25.250]we're going to have a new facility there
[00:09:27.590]that is focused on high-tech
[00:09:30.760]and how we use precision agriculture,
[00:09:33.340]how we are using regenerative agriculture
[00:09:36.160]and how we build in resiliency
[00:09:38.260]for 21st century agricultural production.
[00:09:41.040]So obviously that has huge benefits for reducing input costs
[00:09:45.020]and improving yields as well as revenue
[00:09:47.540]to production agriculture,
[00:09:48.760]but it has huge implications as well
[00:09:50.950]for the growing movement among small scale of farming.
[00:09:54.910]A number of years ago,
[00:09:56.130]as well prior to COVID, I challenged Chairman Smith.
[00:09:59.530]I said, why don't we do a conference
[00:10:01.020]on financing options that are available
[00:10:03.770]for young and beginning farmers or small scale farming?
[00:10:06.800]And he graciously agreed, of course, that was before COVID
[00:10:09.680]and we've been disrupted a bit because of that,
[00:10:12.660]but I'm so happy that the conference
[00:10:13.930]has finally come together now.
[00:10:16.310]Finally, let me talk about this in terms of what it means
[00:10:19.210]to have a 21st century architecture
[00:10:21.840]of security and prosperity, not only for Nebraska,
[00:10:25.470]but also the entire world.
[00:10:27.900]Without food, civilization lasts about three days.
[00:10:32.060]And again, as I said earlier,
[00:10:34.050]the amount of food that we produce in our country
[00:10:36.570]gives us a natural, competitive advantage
[00:10:38.950]in terms of trading worldwide,
[00:10:40.700]but it's more important than that.
[00:10:42.550]Our ability to help the poor,
[00:10:45.110]to create the conditions for stability stops migration,
[00:10:49.760]stops desertification.
[00:10:52.000]Our ability to move our innovation and research,
[00:10:54.820]advanced research at universities
[00:10:56.540]into the hands of people worldwide
[00:10:58.890]stops malnutrition, improves health,
[00:11:01.640]and again, we benefit
[00:11:02.650]from that both economically and culturally.
[00:11:05.430]So to the degree,
[00:11:06.280]I know that you are called in your heart of hearts
[00:11:08.350]to use your own two hands to toil the ground, if you will,
[00:11:14.690]to toil and make things that are essential and good,
[00:11:17.850]and that starts with food.
[00:11:19.650]And so I'm so proud again
[00:11:21.080]to represent you in the United States Congress,
[00:11:22.900]to be a part of these new movements in agriculture,
[00:11:25.640]building upon our traditional competitive advantages
[00:11:28.620]and looking forward to this new 21st century architecture,
[00:11:32.750]where food is at the center
[00:11:34.750]of thinking about how we create conditions for stability,
[00:11:37.550]prosperity, and peace.
[00:11:39.190]Thank you so much.
[00:11:44.490]Absolutely, thank you very much Congressman Fortenberry.
[00:11:49.050]Let me introduce my co-moderator, Mr. Glen Smith.
[00:11:54.780]Glen was designated the chairman and CEO
[00:11:58.540]of the Farm Credit Administration
[00:12:00.410]by then President Trump on July 17th, 2019.
[00:12:05.920]Glen and I chatted a little bit
[00:12:07.390]about the Farm Credit Administration.
[00:12:09.700]So if you go back in time to 1916,
[00:12:12.660]so 105 years give or take,
[00:12:15.440]think about where we were as a country,
[00:12:17.450]think about what was happening.
[00:12:19.610]Ironically, they, at that time
[00:12:22.550]were in the midst of another global pandemic,
[00:12:25.080]hard to believe, but thinking about the fragility
[00:12:28.660]of the agricultural system in this country,
[00:12:32.510]and the importance of ensuring that there was capital,
[00:12:36.260]a financial means available to the producers.
[00:12:40.370]And that's really the Genesis
[00:12:42.010]of the Farm Credit Administration.
[00:12:44.350]You'll hear a little bit more about this,
[00:12:45.900]but chairman Smith shared
[00:12:48.410]that the total assets that are brought together $428 billion
[00:12:57.360]would make it the ninth largest bank if you will,
[00:13:00.100]in the United States of America, it's a pretty big deal.
[00:13:04.430]Glen grew up and is a native of Atlantic, Iowa,
[00:13:07.640]not too far from here, actually,
[00:13:09.440]he was raised on a diversified crop and livestock farm.
[00:13:13.440]He graduated from Iowa State University in 1979.
[00:13:17.290]He has fun memories of playing the Huskers back then.
[00:13:21.220]We joked a little bit about that.
[00:13:22.840]I said I was glad
[00:13:23.910]that we weren't playing Iowa State this year,
[00:13:26.290]but that was my two cents.
[00:13:28.420]His bachelor's of science was in agricultural business.
[00:13:32.340]And then he accepted a position
[00:13:33.970]with Don Agricultural Services
[00:13:36.220]as state manager of the company's real estate division.
[00:13:39.660]In 1982, Glen and his wife moved back to his hometown
[00:13:44.200]and they started farming
[00:13:45.920]and developed an ag service business.
[00:13:49.110]Today their family farm,
[00:13:51.340]Smith Generation Farms Incorporated
[00:13:53.730]is grown to encompass about 2000 acres devoted to corn,
[00:13:59.100]soybeans, hay, and they have a small beef cow herd.
[00:14:02.800]In 1990 here in the title of accredited rural appraiser
[00:14:07.770]from the American Society of Farm Managers
[00:14:10.490]and rural appraisers.
[00:14:12.320]In 2000, Glen served as president
[00:14:15.150]of the Iowa chapter of that organization.
[00:14:18.160]He's a proud lifelong member of the Farm Bureau,
[00:14:21.350]the Iowa Corn Growers Association,
[00:14:23.900]the Iowa Soybeans Association,
[00:14:26.430]and the Iowa Cattleman's Association.
[00:14:28.990]Without further ado,
[00:14:30.040]please join me in welcoming the chairman
[00:14:33.530]of the Farm Credit Administration, Mr. Glen Smith.
[00:14:38.141](audience applauding)
[00:14:40.170]Hey, what a pleasure to be here?
[00:14:41.670]What a wonderful venue and what a great invitation here
[00:14:46.290]from University of Nebraska.
[00:14:48.970]And thank you in particular,
[00:14:50.950]Vice Chancellor, Dr. Boehm, Greg Ibach,
[00:14:54.920]a good friend of mine from DC under Secretary Ibach.
[00:14:59.440]You should say Jesse Brophy.
[00:15:01.460]I meet Matt (indistinct) and Matt Hammond.
[00:15:04.190]I know you've all put in countless hours,
[00:15:06.640]along with my staff, three of them here in front,
[00:15:09.330]two of them in the back table
[00:15:11.200]to put this whole event together.
[00:15:15.880]It was a challenge two years ago,
[00:15:18.660]and it doesn't seem like two years.
[00:15:21.150]With the pandemic, I don't know about you all,
[00:15:23.400]but I've lost all semblance of time and dateline,
[00:15:27.990]but I had appeared
[00:15:29.510]in front of the house ag's appropriations subcommittee.
[00:15:34.541]And Congressman Fortenberry hearing I was from Western Iowa,
[00:15:39.640]hearing my passion for young, beginning and small farmers,
[00:15:43.980]put out the challenge to come over in Lincoln.
[00:15:47.430]In fact, he even offered to issue me a visa
[00:15:50.690]to cross a Missouri river,
[00:15:52.220]which I thought was very gracious of him.
[00:15:55.000]But it's been two years in coming, obviously,
[00:16:00.330]as chairman, CEO,
[00:16:01.890]I've had a lot of things I've had to put on hold,
[00:16:04.630]and at the top of the list has been to actively push
[00:16:10.080]and encourage our system institutions to continue to expand
[00:16:15.280]on the Young, Beginning and Small Farmer Program,
[00:16:18.240]what we call YBS.
[00:16:20.700]As mentioned, I'm board chairman, CEO
[00:16:22.510]of the Farm Credit Administration.
[00:16:25.840]That's the regulator for the farm credit system.
[00:16:28.650]The farm credit system provides roughly 44%
[00:16:33.020]of our nation's farm debt.
[00:16:34.720]We are the leaders as far as providing financing
[00:16:38.330]to agriculture assets, roughly 428 billion
[00:16:42.890]in loans right now, around 320 billion.
[00:16:46.120]Our job is to regulate and examine system institutions
[00:16:51.180]and make sure they're fulfilling their mission to Congress
[00:16:55.550]in making loans in a safe and sound manner.
[00:16:58.880]And an important part of that mission
[00:17:01.860]involves young, beginning and small farmers.
[00:17:05.610]I go back to 1974.
[00:17:08.220]I graduated from Atlantic High School,
[00:17:10.790]and like a lot of farm kids,
[00:17:14.670]I was in VO-AG in FFA
[00:17:17.130]and I think we had maybe 24, 20 out of class for 165 people.
[00:17:21.740]We had 25 people in our VO-AG FFA class.
[00:17:25.860]Today, I think there's only three of us
[00:17:29.890]still inactive agriculture, and with me living in DC,
[00:17:34.860]it might be questionable whether I'm actively engaged in ag,
[00:17:39.530]although I am every day.
[00:17:41.340]So that just tells you,
[00:17:45.280]we lost a generation of farmers in the '80s,
[00:17:49.960]and then the Farm Credit Act of 1987,
[00:17:53.460]that's why they specifically authorized
[00:17:56.030]the farm credit system with the mission
[00:17:58.630]of advancing young, beginning and small farmers.
[00:18:03.060]I forgot to add for a farm boy.
[00:18:06.940]We sure didn't rely, Mike Stokey in the back,
[00:18:11.612]the director of our public and congressional affairs
[00:18:14.780]was following his GPS today and what a beautiful day
[00:18:17.890]to come out and talk about the future of agriculture.
[00:18:20.450]Harvest is wrapping up for a lot of us sunny day,
[00:18:23.350]and we followed our GPS
[00:18:26.140]and we got our road mixed up with lane,
[00:18:29.420]and instead of being here at the union,
[00:18:31.450]we ended up admiring a very beautiful cow herd,
[00:18:36.730]Angus cow herd that was pasturing stock.
[00:18:41.120]So we started out the day in a good shape, didn't we Mike?
[00:18:45.350]Again, my wife and I started out as beginning farmers
[00:18:48.980]in the '80s and a true beginning farmers.
[00:18:52.570]I think maybe we had $2,500 equity
[00:18:56.920]in her Oldsmobile Cutlass, was a cool car at that time.
[00:19:02.900]Since that time, our operation has grown.
[00:19:05.810]Three of our four children
[00:19:07.220]are involved as young and beginning farmers.
[00:19:10.240]So when I come to farm credit here almost four years ago,
[00:19:14.660]I learned about YBS, Gary Madison here in front
[00:19:18.070]who's a director of YBS program for the systems.
[00:19:21.780]I met with him, and he could tell right away, boy,
[00:19:25.020]this ignited a real interest in me.
[00:19:27.310]And so I started asking questions from the get go
[00:19:30.640]about the program.
[00:19:32.900]And while the system has done a good job,
[00:19:36.920]I could see where we could do a better job.
[00:19:41.050]We've got roughly 72 different institutions
[00:19:43.910]throughout the country.
[00:19:45.360]I traveled a lot, I asked a lot of questions about YBS.
[00:19:50.160]In fact, as I visited farms and ranches
[00:19:53.490]throughout the country,
[00:19:55.290]usually I wouldn't ask
[00:19:56.890]for the large glitzy multi-generation operators.
[00:20:01.040]I wanted to see the young farmer operations
[00:20:04.840]in their work clothes.
[00:20:06.480]In fact, only two days ago,
[00:20:08.160]I was in Utah and I had a really nice visit to a ranch.
[00:20:15.180]They produced hay for the international market
[00:20:18.810]in the valley of Utah and the young operator
[00:20:24.700]and his wife showed up on the farm
[00:20:27.860]and he had a six shooters strapped to his side.
[00:20:32.809]And I thought that was kind of interesting.
[00:20:34.770]As a lender, do you always come prepared
[00:20:37.550]with the six shooter?
[00:20:38.520]And his wife says, you know what, I keep telling him,
[00:20:42.550]why do you put that thing on?
[00:20:43.840]He says, because of rattlesnakes, varmints,
[00:20:46.590]blah, blah, blah.
[00:20:47.423]She said, "Yeah, I think he thinks it just looks cool."
[00:20:50.590]But anyway, it was a fun visit,
[00:20:53.490]but typical of the visits
[00:20:55.450]that we've had throughout the country.
[00:20:57.260]And as we move this YBS program ahead,
[00:21:00.610]not only are we sharing best practices
[00:21:03.660]like we're doing today in Lincoln,
[00:21:05.670]but eventually we're developing rulemaking
[00:21:07.900]to rate the different system institutions
[00:21:10.770]on their effectiveness,
[00:21:12.310]on the numbers, on the practices.
[00:21:15.000]And you know, what practice is worthwhile
[00:21:17.970]unless you actually evaluate it.
[00:21:20.360]And as an oversight supervisor of the system,
[00:21:24.520]obviously we're in a position to do that.
[00:21:27.090]So I think, again, this is a culmination
[00:21:30.810]of really two years of planning.
[00:21:34.360]We hope it to be the start.
[00:21:36.840]University of Nebraska, you're the pace setters here
[00:21:40.380]for the rest of the country.
[00:21:41.641]We really hoped to take this same mission
[00:21:45.980]to many other regions of the country.
[00:21:47.760]So I thank you very much for your kind invitation
[00:21:51.070]to be here today, thank you.

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Young, Beginning and Small Farmers Symposium Welcome Remarks

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