Pub 7 2018 Issue 5

l e a d i n g a d v o c a t e f o r t h e b a n k i n g i n d u s t r y i n k a n s a s 18 U.S. SENATORS HOST KANSAS AGRICULTURE ROUNDU P S ENATOR PAT ROBERTS HOSTED A KANSAS Agriculture Roundup on May 30th at River Creek Farms just east of Manhattan. Senator Jerry Moran also participated in the event, which welcomed special guest United States Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. About 200 people jammed into the barn on a local farm to hear the senators and the secretary answer questions from the audience about ag policy and the upcoming Farm Bill. KBA was invited to participate in the roundup and was also invited to ask a question of the panel. T.J. Wilson, Morrill and Janes Bank & Trust in Hiawatha, who serves as this year’s chairman of the KBA - Kansas Ag Bankers Division told the panel that while the KBA supports this year’s Farm Bill as passed by the US House Agriculture Committee, a few enhancements would be desirable when the bill is worked in the US Senate. He told the panel that for banks to assist their farm customers more effectively during this period of distress, 1) crop insurance should not be curtailed; 2) FSA guaranteed loan limits should be increased to $2.5 million, and 3) banks would like more opportunities to make loans within the USDA Rural Development program, especially in broadband and water system funding. Both Senators and Secretary Perdue responded by telling the audience of mostly farm and commodity groups the importance of local community banks and how their ability to help ag customers that might not fit into a “cookie cutter” is absolutely vital in order to help agriculture get through the current downturn. They used last year’s prairie fire disaster in SW Kansas as an example of how the Ashland banks made loans to customers that had lost all their collateral in the fires. In addition to T.J. Wilson, other bankers in attendance were: Larry Williams, Alex Williams, the Halstead Bank; W.R. Robbins, Farmers Bank & Trust, Great Bend; and Kendall Kay, Stockgrowers State Bank, Ashland. Senator Roberts and Kendall Kay, (Stockgrowers State Bank, Ashland) visit as former KBA President Harold Stones enjoys his role as Roberts’ security detail. T.J. Wilson, (Morrill and Janes Bank & Trust, Hiawatha) asks the panel a question.