On January 29, 2024, the Farm Income Enhancement Program hosted a visit by the Farm Credit Mid-America (FCMA) to AEDE to discuss research, outreach, and student engagement opportunities. Melanie Strait-Bok met with AEDE faculty and students with the goal of increasing engagement and collaboration. Melanie Strait-Bok is a Senior Vice President of Agricultural Lending for Ohio at Farm Credit Mid-America.
The Farm Income Enhancement Program represented by Dr. Ani Katchova, Farm Income Enhancement Chair, and her students Rae Ju, Charles Smith, Zhining Sun, and Vishavdeep Sharma discussed their research and outreach projects with Farm Credit Mid-America. Their presentation titled Farm Credit Mid-America Condition and Performance Analysis focused on analyzing the quality of the FCMA loan portfolio by conducting financial analysis and comparison within the Farm Credit System. The accompanying report Farm Credit Mid-America Condition and Performance provided further analysis and details using data from the FCMA annual reports. Dr. Ani Katchova noted that “Melanie Strait-Bok pointed out the major trends and opportunities for agricultural lenders in Ohio that need our attention for future research.”
AEDE and FCMA also discussed opportunities to include more financial analysis that is relevant to lenders in the Agribusiness and Applied Economics major. Dr. Anna Parkman highlighted ways to engage our students with Farm Credit Mid-America through internships and jobs. The undergraduate Agribusiness Finance class which is taught by Dr. Ani Katchova will feature new case studies on FCMA on how to analyze financial data from lenders.
The AEDE meeting with FCMA helped shape future research and outreach projects for the Farm Income Enhancement Program. New projects will be initiated to analyze Farm Credit System annual reports data to highlight important trends and comparisons in terms of condition and performance for agricultural lenders. The meeting will also strengthen interactions and engagement between AEDE and FCMA.