Professor Bruce Ahrendsen in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness at the U of A presented his research at the Farm Credit Annual Meeting in San Diego, California, earlier this month. 

The Farm Credit Annual Meeting is attended by the board members and senior management of the banks and associations of the Farm Credit System. The research presented at the Farm Credit Annual Meeting was the result of a grant John Anderson, professor and department head, and Ron Rainey, professor andd assistant vice president, had received from the Farm Credit Council. The annual meeting provides an opportunity for board members and senior management of the farm credit associations from across the nation to come together and discuss policy and emerging issues. 

"It was great to be invited by the Farm Credit Council to present 'Population and Credit Usage of Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers' at the 2023 Farm Credit Annual Meeting," Ahrendsen said. "The research by Ron Rainey and I focused on the use of agricultural credit by the gender, race and ethnicity of U.S. farmers and ranchers."  

Credit enables farmers and ranchers to improve their agricultural operations through productivity enhancements, new market expansion, cash flow fluctuation smoothing or land acquisition. Loan usage can often be more challenging for beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, including women and minorities. The research presented shows that in some cases there are differences in the use of credit by farmers and ranchers depending on their experience, age, gender, race and ethnicity, as well as their farm operation size. 

Ahrendsen's primary research interests include issues of financial institutions and markets, credit evaluation, financial management, credit programs, risk management, farmland leasing and asset valuation. He leads intensive, integrated, real-time case-study weeks in the International M.B.A. in Agribusiness program at universities in the Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Slovakia, Croatia and Mongolia. 

Farm Credit is a nationwide network of 70 customer-owned financial institutions. Across all 50 states and Puerto Rico, it provides loans and related financial services to U.S. farmers and ranchers, farmer-owned cooperatives and other agribusinesses, rural homebuyers and rural infrastructure providers. 

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability, and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture. For more information about Bumpers College, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter at @BumpersCollege and Instagram at BumpersCollege. 

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