Thursday, January 31, 2008

Jay Peak Dairy Farmer Appreciation

The 20th anniversary of Dairy Farmer Appreciation Day was held at Jay Peak Resort in Jay, VT on 1/25/08. This is a tremendous event, giving busy dairy farmers an opportunity to play together for a day! Each Vermont Dairy farm receives three complimentary lift tickets, free lessons & a discount on rentals. The resort features lots of fun events and an apres-ski party as well. If you missed it this year - keep it in mind for next January. For more information please check out the Jay Peak website.

Yankee's Shantel Thomas was on site with a display from Crop Growers Insurance. If you'd like information about Crop Growers, please contact Shantel at 800-545-1097.

2008 Director Nominees

The Nominating Committee has nominated the following individuals for director:

Region 1:
Jacques Parent
Celeste Kane Stebbins

Region 2:
Louise Calderwood
Walter Gladstone

Region 3:
Paul Doton
Theodore Foster

One director from each region will be elected at Annual Meetings which will be held April 7-17, 2008.

2007 Patronage Refund

At their meeting yesterday, the Board of Directors approved a patronage refund for 2007 of $3,332,000. This is 1.20% of average member loans held by the Association. In comparison, the 2006 patronage refund was $3,031,000 or 1.125% of loans.

The 2007 patronage refund will be paid on March 25, 2008. It will be 100% cash.

Interest Rate Changes 2/1

Yesterday the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by 0.50%. Earlier, on January 22, they lowered interest rates by 0.75%.

All Yankee Farm Credit variable interest rates will be decreased by 1.25% effective February 1.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Introducing Chuck Custeau

I am pleased to announce that Charles (Chuck) Custeau of Milton has joined Yankee Farm Credit as a Loan Officer in our St. Albans office. Chuck began work on January 21. Chuck has over 25 years experience working with farmers in northern Vermont and New York with various fertilizer and seed companies, most recently with L.D. Oliver Seed Company in Milton.

Welcome, Chuck!

Introducing Sherry Parent

I am pleased to announce that Sherry Parent of Berkshire has joined Yankee Farm Credit as a Financial Services Representative in our St. Albans office. Sherry began work on January 14. Sherry has 7 years experience working for H&R Block in Waterbury and St. Albans.

Welcome, Sherry!

Promotions - Jeff and Mike

I am pleased to announce two promotions -- Jeff Temple and Mike Farmer have both been promoted from Assistant Vice President to Vice President. These promotions reflect the increasing role that Jeff and Mike have in managing their respective offices in White River Jct. and St. Albans.

Jeff has 31 years of experience with Farm Credit. He worked for the old Mohawk-Schoharie association (now part of First Pioneer Farm Credit) from 1976 to 1984. In 1984 Jeff transferred to the old Champlain Valley association and worked in the Middlebury and Rutland offices. (The Rutland office was closed in 1986). In 1995 Yankee Farm Credit was formed by the merger of the Champlain Valley and Connecticut Valley associations, and Jeff began working in the White River Jct. office.

Mike has 18 years of experience with Farm Credit. He was hired to work in the White River Jct. office of the Connecticut Valley association in 1989. In 1998, after Tom Bellavance left, Mike moved to the St. Albans office (hard to believe it's been 10 years already).

Congratulations to Mike and Jeff!

New Directions

Happy New Year!

It is time to take this blog in new directions. I'll continue to post about China as appropriate, but I will also post about other topics relating to Yankee Farm Credit.

The first order of business is to introduce Ruchel St. Hilaire. Ruchel will be an additional author on this blog. Ruchel is the Executive Assistant and Personnel Coordinator for Yankee Farm Credit. She is invaluable to me and everyone else in the Association. I welcome her assistance in keeping this blog timely and interesting.

Among other topics, Ruchel and I will post about the activities of Yankee Farm Credit's employees. If you have comments about our posts, please feel free to leave a comment on the blog.