Gary Reimer receives input financing from Cofina Financial through his local cooperative at Corn, Okla. S •• HEAR MORE •• Listen to our interview at chsinc.com/c. BANKING ON PARTNERS By Annette Bertelsen trolling into the local bank for a production loan isn’t as simple as it used to be. Some commercial banks have curbed their agricultural lending, prompting producers to request more financial assistance from cooperatives. “When wheat inputs hit $160 to $180 per acre, many local banks just weren’t willing to take the risk on a crop,” says Vincent Smith, general manager, Farmers Co-op, Weatherford, Okla. “Some backed off from agricultural lending altogether. Others put strict limits on amounts producers could spend, which doesn’t work in the real world. Depending on weed or insect situations, sometimes an extra $10 an acre means the difference between having a crop and not having one. “A number of producers asked, ‘Can you carry us to harvest?’” Smith adds. As a result, Farmers Co-op joined the growing ranks of cooperatives partnering with Cofina Financial, LLC, a CHS subsidiary, to offer producer financing. “Being a Country Business Partner with Cofina Financial helps us be a full-service cooperative and offer things our customers can’t get elsewhere, plus it lowers our accounts receivables risk. Now we can tell customers what agronomy products we recommend and then say, ‘Here’s an easy financing package to make it happen.’” The financing program also helps strengthen relationships. “We have a closer connection and better communication with our customers,” says Smith. “We get an earlier chance to see what they have in mind for inputs and our agronomists can visit with Don Geiszler, our Cofina Financial producer lending specialist, about changing customer needs. All three of us — customer, supplier and lender — work well together and form a really tight chain.” Gary Reimer, a wheat grower and rancher in Corn, Okla., agrees. “With a Cofina Financial loan through my local cooperative, Farmers Co-op is more informed about my operation. That’s a good thing, because we’re in this together.” Greater understanding is particularly helpful when times are tough, Reimer says. “Last year we got a late freeze. It was probably the worst wheat season we’ve ever had. A lot of banks would have CHSINC.COM 24 January/February 2010
Issue Articles
Banking On Partners
Annette Bertelsen
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