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Government assistance expected to provide financial boost

Government assistance programs like CFAP and PPP are providing a badly needed financial boost to many farming operations.

Daryl Wilton, chief credit officer with Cornerstone Bank at York, Nebraska, says they’re seeing it in the limited number of financial statements they’ve reviewed so far.

“The three we’ve seen have been excellent, as far as what the year has provided for them,” Wilton says. “I know we’re not going to see that all the way through, but at this point, it makes you feel a little bit positive—and I think that was helped by the different government programs that were out there. (They) just really made a difference.”

Good yields and the recent surge in commodity prices have also brightened the financial outlook for many crop farmers. Ken Mehlin is chief credit officer for Nebraska-based Bruning Bank.

“Hopefully, with the government help, we’ll see some positive earned equity changes and some positive working capital change numbers,” Mehlin says.

But the picture may not be as bright for some livestock producers, according to Mark Jensen, CEO of Omaha-based Farm Credit Services of America.

“The timing of where you were in your cycle of marketing your livestock, and the arrangements that you had either in place or during the pandemic—I think you’re going to have a lot of variabilities,” Jensen says. “But I think, clearly, the protein sector is where we’re going to see a lot of volatility and inconsistency in performance of producers.”

The ag lenders participated in a webinar hosted by the University of Nebraska Extension.