11/19/08 Farm credit should be there in '09

These are tough economic times but for farmers credit opportunities should still be there in 2009. I'm Bill Scott. Back with Today's Idaho Ag News after this. Most farmers should be able to get the credit they need next year. That's the good news. The price that farmers will have to pay for that credit is dependent on Wall Street events and that's a different story. Farm Credit Council's Ken Auer says even though the Fed has lowered the prime interest rate the rates for farm loans through the credit council may be a little higher next year. AUER "The price of capital coming out of Wall Street is higher than what we would like it to be. There is a lot of stress as you can well imagine on Wall Street. There's a lot of new players that have entered the market. You've got the federal budget deficit, a lot of foreign players. Sovereign funds have moved out of the marketplace and that's impacting on our pricing but the availability is going to be there." The farm economy has been a bright spot but Auer says it will probably be a bit weaker in 2009. AUER "We never made any sub-prime loan. We did not get into that business. We are focused on agriculture and farmers understand that they're involved in a business and you have to make sure you have a profit and loss statement and have the records there to demonstrate that you are a worthy creditor." Important for farmers, says Auer, is the knowledge that credit will be available to them for next spring's planting. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott