(Alice McFarlane/farmnewsNOW Staff)

By Alice McFarlane

Farm Financing

FCC helps farmers get back on track

Nov 6, 2019 | 11:39 AM

2019 has not been an easy year for farmers.

Tough weather and a difficult growing season, coupled with market access challenges and commodity price fluctuations is having a serious impact on farm operations across the country.

Farm Credit Canada (FCC) is offering to help farmers facing financial hardships.

FCC Operations Vice President Darrin Howden said they will meet with farmers and deal with each on a case by case basis including loan payment deferrals or loan restructuring.

“It really depends on the situation, but we do see and we are anticipating that we’re going to have more customers coming in and talking to us this year than we’ve had in the past. We don’t want to call it a crisis by any extent but we are prepared to meet with more customers then we had in the previous year,” Howden said. “We acknowledge that this has been a very challenging year and we’ve had a couple of back to back years which makes things a little tighter on the cash position for producers.”

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Howden said some areas of the province had a fairly good year while others still have crop in the field.

“We’ve got some got some folks in northern Saskatchewan that are doing well. We’ve also got customers who haven’t finished their harvest yet and as you know it’s this time of year when harvest is most expensive. It’s hardest to get it off and there’s a lot of folks drying grain and marketing that stuff could be more of a challenge as well,” Howden said.

Farmers that are face significant challenges will be presented with options. Howden said FCC will work with customers to find solutions to any short-term financial pressure that might be weighing them down.

“Some people will need help with postponing a loan payment, some people may need a short term cash injection, some guys may need a re-amortizing or building their loan payment back in, restructuring,” Howden said. “It’s kind of the whole gamut and we’ve opened our whole tool box to make sure that we can support our customers in anyway they need.”

Howden also stressed the importance of keeping lines of communication open between farmer and lender.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF