4
CapitalPress.com
Friday, August 19, 2022
Farm Credit West, NW Farm Credit Services pursue potential merger
Final decision on
proposal this fall
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
Farm Credit West and
Northwest Farm Credit Ser-
vices, agricultural lending
associations within the Farm
Credit System, are pursuing a
potential merger.
Experts say a merger —
part of a broader consolidation
trend within agricultural lend-
ing — comes with pros and
cons for borrowers.
Combined, the associa-
tions would have a mammoth
footprint, with merged assets
of more than $28 billion and
serving 23,000 customers.
Farm Credit West, with 14
offices, works with farmers in
Arizona and California’s Cen-
tral Coast, Imperial Valley,
Southern San Joaquin Valley
and Sacramento Valley.
Northwest Farm Credit
Services, with 44 offices, pro-
vides financing and related ser-
vices in Montana, Idaho, Ore-
gon, Washington and Alaska.
“By joining our associa-
tions, we can be better posi-
tioned to strategically address
marketplace changes and pro-
vide even greater value for our
customer-members,” Sureena
Bains Thiara, chair of Farm
Credit West’s board of direc-
tors, said in a statement earlier
this year.
Nate Riggers, chair of
Northwest Farm Credit Ser-
vices’ board, said the merger
is a “strategic move for both
cooperatives.”
Since February, the orga-
nizations have been assessing
merger benefits for stockhold-
ers and finalizing agreement
terms.
Linda Hendricksen, chief
marketing and learning offi-
cer at Northwest Farm Credit
Services, said the proposal is
pending regulatory review.
Approval is expected in Octo-
ber, at which time the associ-
ation will share more details.
Customer-owners
will
then vote on the merger in
late 2022.
The merged association
plans to begin operations
Jan. 1 under the leadership
of Farm Credit West’s pres-
ident and CEO, Mark Little-
field. The management team
will include leaders from both
associations.
Headquarters will be
in Spokane, Wash., with
regional operating centers
in each state. The agricul-
tural lenders do not anticipate
office closures or branch staff-
ing changes.
The possible merger is part
of a decades-long trend toward
consolidation within the Farm
Credit System, or FCS.
The FCS traces its ori-
gins to 1916, when President
Woodrow Wilson established
the Federal Land Bank System.
The system’s purpose is
to provide a permanent, reli-
able source of credit to U.S.
agriculture.
FCS lenders are regulated
by the Farm Credit Adminis-
tration, an independent federal
agency. The FCS is organized
as a borrower-cooperative,
meaning borrowers own the
associations and vote on board
members.
The FCS has four regional
banks that provide funds
and support to smaller lend-
ing associations, which in
turn give loans to eligible
borrowers.
The past two decades,
mergers and acquisitions have
shrunk the number of lenders
by 41%.
In her book, “Food, Farm-
ing and Sustainability,” Susan
Schneider, a law professor
at the University of Arkan-
sas School of Law, writes that
in the mid-1940s there were
more than 2,000 lending asso-
ciations in the Farm Credit
System. That fell to about 900
in 1983, 200 in 1998 and 74 in
2016.
In 2022, 69 lenders remain.
The typical FCS associ-
ation used to cover several
counties, wrote Schneider.
Now, the typical association
covers a much larger region.
Many factors have driven
consolidation, said Erik Han-
son, assistant professor of agri-
business and applied econom-
ics at North Dakota University
and author of the 2020 paper,
“Consolidation in the Farm
Credit System.”
“The Farm Credit System
is following some (consolida-
tion) trends you see in ag gen-
erally and in finance gener-
ally,” Hanson told the Capital
Press.
As the number of farms
has decreased and the size of
farms has increased, lenders
have often viewed it as more
economical to cover a wider
region with more customers,
said Hanson.
He said technology and
customers’ comfort with doing
business remotely have also
made consolidation more
workable.
The smaller number of
lenders, however, comes with
pros and cons.
Experts say one benefit of
mergers is that by combining
capital, lenders can provide
larger loans.
According to Hanson,
lenders that join forces may
also become more efficient
and profitable by broadening
the consumer base, commin-
gling talent pools and diversi-
fying risk.
By offering the best of
both organizations, Hanson
said, the merger should bene-
fit borrowers.
Schneider, the law pro-
fessor, wrote that “customers
may benefit if greater institu-
tional efficacy is passed along
through lower interest rates.”
But there are also
downsides.
Although a larger associa-
tion may provide larger loans,
critics say this incentivizes
lenders to focus on serving big
operations at the expense of
smaller farms.
Another downside, Han-
son said, is that a borrower
may experience “loss of local
control” because as the cus-
tomer pool expands, the indi-
vidual farmer may have less
influence.
“As the business gets big-
ger, the individual farmer
maybe has less and less of a
say, less and less of a connec-
tion to the way that decisions
are being made for that busi-
ness,” said Hanson.
Experts predict farmers
will experience both the pos-
itive and negative impacts of
consolidation as the number of
agricultural lenders continues
to shrink.
Expert: Harvest ‘risky time’ for grain farmers Reward
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
When engulfed in grain,
a person has about two min-
utes to survive, an engi-
neer and agricultural safety
consultant says, calling it a
“very gruesome death.”
“When we look at the
autopsies of these victims,
there’s grain packed in every
orifice of their body,” said
Carol Jones, a consultant in
Stillwater, Okla., and agri-
cultural engineering emer-
itus professor at Oklahoma
State University.
Jones spoke about grain
storage safety Aug. 11
during the Idaho Wheat
Commission’s “From the
Field” webinar.
Harvest is a “risky time”
for grain farmers, she said.
“The forces are just
beyond belief when you’re
under that much grain —
it’s almost always a recov-
ery and not a rescue, in those
situations,” she said. “Every
time you breathe out, grain
comes down on your chest
and it’s hard to get the next
breath, but eventually you’re
going to have to get a breath,
and the grain goes down into
your lungs and completely
impacts your lungs, eyes,
ears.”
A farmer standing in
grain up to the knees won’t
be able to pull himself out
without a rope or assistance,
she said.
“And they’re not going to
be able to just pull you out
directly,” she said. “If you’re
to your waist, it’s going to
take about 800 pounds to
pull you directly out. Grain
just puts that much force on
the human body. If you’re up
to your shoulders, it’s going
to take up to 1,600 pounds to
RULES OF GRAIN
BIN SAFETY
1. Keep grain in good
condition, taking care of
grain quality up front and
in a timely manner.
2. Be prepared with
equipment you need —
harness, rope, tie-offs.
3. Don’t enter a grain bin
if you are alone. Work
with someone or, at the
very least, let someone
else know you’re in the
bin and check in with
them frequently.
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/22/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2014 TOYT CAM 4D
VIN = 4T1BF1FK8EU829528
Amount due on lien $2835.00
Reputed owner(s)
ALI M SCHWARTS
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/22/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2019 HONDA 1800 MC
VIN = JH2SC7958KK101311
Amount due on lien $1795.00
Reputed owner(s)
ARD & CAROL PRATT
FROM THE FIELD:
GRAIN BIN
SAFETY
https://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=Kd-
JAs7ds5Y4
pull you out.”
The average rescue takes
four hours and 100 people,
Jones said.
About 60 grain storage
entrapments or engulfments
occur each year in the U.S.,
Jones said. About half of
them result in death.
Workers most often
become
trapped
when
unloading grain that’s been
in storage and cleaning the
bin for the next season,
Jones said.
The first step is mak-
ing sure the storage bin will
preserve the crop. Farmers
should check seals and bolts,
and monitor for temperature
and moisture, Jones said.
Grain can clump to the
side of the bin or form a
“bridge” over the top sur-
face, which needs to be
broken up to go through
the auger. When a worker
enters the bin to break up
the clumps or the bridge,
that’s when he can become
trapped.
Jones says farmers in the
bin with an auger operating
and poorly guarded sumps
are running a high risk. Body
parts or clothing can get tan-
gled up with the auger.
The
U.S.
Occupa-
tional Safety and Health
Administration
requires
“lockout-tagout”
safety
equipment and training.
Equipment should be turned
off and the worker enter-
ing the bin have the key
with him to avoid some-
one accidentally starting the
machinery.
Everything except the
aeration system and lighting
should be locked and tagged
out, according to OSHA.
The agency also doesn’t
allow entering the bin when
the grain is over a person’s
head.
Most family farms don’t
meet OSHA regulations,
Jones said.
“The grain doesn’t know
whether it’s on a family farm
or a commercial facility,”
she said. “It acts the same.”
Many steel bins block
cell phone signals, she said.
Jones recommends a
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/22/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2015 CHEV SIL PK
VIN = 1GC1KVEG5FF553878
Amount due on lien $1555.00
Reputed owner(s) >
JOSEPH C SCHNEIDER
ALLY BANK
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/22/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2019 CHEV VN
VIN = 1GB0GRFP1K1369472
Amount due on lien $1555.00
Reputed owner(s)
SEVEN PEAKS TRANSPORTATION INC
ALLY FINANCIAL
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/22/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2016 MAZD 6 4D
VIN = JM1GJ1T54G1470965
Amount due on lien $1555.00
Reputed owner(s)
TERRY R & KAREN J CRAVENS
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/22/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2019 CHEV CORVETT 2D
VIN = 1G1YB2D71K5123417
Amount due on lien $1555.00
Reputed owner(s)
G CAM LTD
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/29/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2018 HYUN ELATRA 4D
VIN = 5NPD84LFXJH353710
Amount due on lien $1555.00
Reputed owner(s)
BONNIE L S ROBERTSON
OREGON COMMUNITY C.U
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/29/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2011 MERZ M35 UV
VIN = 4JGBB8GB3BA655495
Amount due on lien $1555.00
Reputed owner(s) >
ELIZABETH A & NATHAN L GRANGER
MECHANICS BK
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/22/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2015 FORD EDGE UT
VIN = 2FMTK4J90FBC12816
Amount due on lien $1535.00
Reputed owner(s)
MARK TRINH
FIRST TECH FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/22/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2008 GMC SRA PK
VIN = 2GTEK133281123794
Amount due on lien $1555.00
Reputed owner(s)
RAMON JUAREZ SERRATO
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/22/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2019 HOND ODY VN
VIN = 5FNRL6H92KB037835
Amount due on lien $1555.00
Reputed owner(s)
MICHAEL W & MARY E WOLFE
AMERICAN HONDA FINANCE CORP
farmer working alone make
arrangements with a partner,
family members or a neigh-
bor to stand outside the bin
to call 911 if needed.
If that’s not possible, the
farmer should ensure some-
one knows he’s entering the
bin and plan to contact him
every 30 minutes or so.
“The worst-case sce-
nario is when a wife calls
911 and says, ‘Joe didn’t
come home for supper
tonight, where is he?’ and
they find him in the bottom
of the bin,” she said.
Jones has fond mem-
ories of being a kid and
playing in the grain bin or
in the hopper on the com-
bine during harvest time,
but said grain was handled
at less than 1,000 bushels
an hour back then.
“We handle grain in our
commercial facilities up
to 40,000 bushels an hour
now,” she said. The typi-
cal speed is 5,000 to 10,000
bushels per hour. “It’s just so
much more dangerous now.
... It’s just not a place for lit-
tle kids to be any more.”
OSHA requires safety
training once a year, but
Jones recommends hands-on
training every six months.
Oklahoma State offers
grain entrapment safety
training to farmers, co-ops,
grain elevators and fire-
fighters. Jones hopes to
obtain OSHA funding to
extend training to the Pacific
Northwest.
5. Keep kids away from
grain bins.
Capital Press File
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
Oregon State Police
Fish and Wildlife Divi-
sion troopers are seeking
the public’s assistance in
finding whoever shot a
wolf in Baker County.
On Aug. 5, the state
Department of Fish and
Wildlife notified troop-
ers that a collared wolf,
OR112, might be dead at
a site about 7 miles north
of Halfway, Ore.
Fish and Wildlife
troopers and ODFW per-
sonnel went to the site and
found the dead wolf.
The wolf, a 2-year-old
gray female that was part
of the Keating Pack, had
been shot. Troopers say
it appears the wolf was
killed the previous day,
Aug. 4.
The Oregon Wildlife
Coalition and its conser-
vation partners are offer-
ing an $11,500 reward to
anyone who has informa-
tion that leads to the arrest
of one or more suspects in
the case.
Amaroq Weiss, senior
wolf advocate at the Cen-
ter for Biological Diver-
sity, which is part of the
coalition offering the
reward, said that because
wolves are much larger
than coyotes, there is no
excuse for mistaking the
two.
“Anyone with infor-
mation on this or other
killings should do the
right thing and come for-
ward,” said Weiss.
The Oregon Cattle-
men’s Association has
told the Capital Press
previously that while
producers have long
been been frustrated by
ODFW’s policies related
to livestock depreda-
tions, “Unlawful activ-
ity is not something
OCA is ever going to
encourage.”
The association has
cautioned against assum-
ing ranchers are responsi-
ble for poaching.
Anyone with informa-
tion about the case should
call the Turn in Poach-
ers hotline at 1-800-452-
7888 or email TIP@osp.
oregon.gov.
4.Take the time to be
safe. Your safety is more
important than your
time.
Firefighters and rescue personnel drive panels into grain to form a tube, relieving
pressure on the “victim” in a training exercise.
offered
for info
on illegal
wolf kill
