Roger.Bairstow at orst.ed
12-31-1969, 07:00 PM
Hi all,
Just within the past week, most of the grass seed farmers in the Willamette
Valley of Oregon were dealt a serious blow to their financial situation. ABT,
one of the world's and the Pacific Coast's largest grass seed distributors, just
filed for Chapter 11. Seed growers in contract with ABT under last year's crops
had not been paid before this filing, leaving their annual revenues tied up in
the courts and leaving them no resources with which to purchase supplies for
this coming year. Obviously, there are some serious short-term funds needed to
enable these family farmers to plant their crops for this year. Most affected
farmers are doubtful that conventional banks will provide them production loans
as agriculture in general is not looked to as a worthy risk. Without these
funds, the grass seed industry in the Willamette Valley, composed mainly of
small, family farms and accounting for close to 60% of the world's grass seed
production, will be in jeopardy.
My questions to you all is:
1) Does anyone have any suggestions where these farmers might turn to for
financial assistance?
and
2) On a different note and with more of a long term view in mind, I was
curious about other programs around the country that provide alternative sources
of funding to family farmers with alternative payback arrangements, for example
Community Development Banks (rather than conventional banks) that tie repayment
of loans to the revenue generated from X% of a farmer's field. I know that
programs like this existed at one point, but I have not heard of such programs
recently. Is anyone out there doing community development banking in rural
areas, with farmers?
I would appreciate any suggestions or advice. Thanks in advance,
Roger
Roger Bairstow
Family & Community Development
OSU Extension Service/Yamhill County, 2050 Lafayette Ave., McMinnville, OR
Telephone: (503) 434-8912 Fax: (503) 472-3054
This post transferred from the cdb-l mailing list
Just within the past week, most of the grass seed farmers in the Willamette
Valley of Oregon were dealt a serious blow to their financial situation. ABT,
one of the world's and the Pacific Coast's largest grass seed distributors, just
filed for Chapter 11. Seed growers in contract with ABT under last year's crops
had not been paid before this filing, leaving their annual revenues tied up in
the courts and leaving them no resources with which to purchase supplies for
this coming year. Obviously, there are some serious short-term funds needed to
enable these family farmers to plant their crops for this year. Most affected
farmers are doubtful that conventional banks will provide them production loans
as agriculture in general is not looked to as a worthy risk. Without these
funds, the grass seed industry in the Willamette Valley, composed mainly of
small, family farms and accounting for close to 60% of the world's grass seed
production, will be in jeopardy.
My questions to you all is:
1) Does anyone have any suggestions where these farmers might turn to for
financial assistance?
and
2) On a different note and with more of a long term view in mind, I was
curious about other programs around the country that provide alternative sources
of funding to family farmers with alternative payback arrangements, for example
Community Development Banks (rather than conventional banks) that tie repayment
of loans to the revenue generated from X% of a farmer's field. I know that
programs like this existed at one point, but I have not heard of such programs
recently. Is anyone out there doing community development banking in rural
areas, with farmers?
I would appreciate any suggestions or advice. Thanks in advance,
Roger
Roger Bairstow
Family & Community Development
OSU Extension Service/Yamhill County, 2050 Lafayette Ave., McMinnville, OR
Telephone: (503) 434-8912 Fax: (503) 472-3054
This post transferred from the cdb-l mailing list