Bank Support

[WRAPper]

I'm not sure if this is of any use but I was in my bank a couple weeks back< I deal with the commercial side of one of the bigger chartered banks and they have an ag. division there, while I was in, my former account manager who now is the head guy for all that banks ag. types came along and we had a pretty good visit. I of course asked him what the ag. portfolio was looking like and he said it was really quite current he said that there are very few not making the payments in fact they worry a lot less about the ag sector loans than other sectors as farmers are usually among the best at meeting their payments etc. Just thought I'd throw that in to this thread whilst keeping in the back of my head that farm debt is at record levels, so it remains to be seen how this crisis on top of the last three years plays out. Sprinkle the outlook for grain prices on top and will we see a major meltdown I hope not and I'm frankly surprised more haven't been sidelined than their have been.

[pmckenna]

I appreciate the input WRAPper, it feels a bit warmer if most can mitigate with banks. Every year, regardless of conditions, some farms have trouble. If the majority are stronger, as you allude to, then perhaps a few weaker enterprises may be saved through partnering. Is this out of the question? Is it more complex/complicated than that? How bad could it get before the loss of the operation is worse than doing some kind of cooperative deal (assuming you have found good partners).