FCS moving to Hagerstown
HAGERSTOWN, Ind. — Farm Credit Services of Mid-America (FCS) broke ground on a new 3,800 square foot facility in Hagerstown, reaffirming the ag lending cooperative’s commitment to reach deeper into farm markets and foster growth in rural America.
Serving more than 72,500 farmer members with $12 billion in loan volume, Farm Credit Services has 86 office locations throughout the four-state territory of Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. The Hagerstown facility, which will be at the intersection of State Road 1 and Tettor Road, will be home office to more than 1,000 member-customers in Delaware, Henry, Jay, Randolph, Union and Wayne counties.
Currently, these members’ loans – representing almost $150 million in volume – are located at the Muncie, Ind., office, which will be closing with the opening of the Hagerstown office.
According to Alan Smith, vice president of financial services of the central Indiana FCS region and manager of the Hagerstown location, the move to the new and larger facility reflects the substantial growth FCS has experienced in recent years in the producer and part-time farmer markets. Smith added it is an exciting time in that the lending cooperative is opening several new offices to accommodate growing markets.
Last year, the lending cooperative opened three locations. Already in 2007, the cooperative has opened two new locations in Ohio and Kentucky and has built a new facility in Tennessee. In addition to Hagerstown, three other building projects are expected to be started by year’s end.
The Hagerstown staff will include financial services officers Randy Coffman, Heath Gentis, Heather Hill and Mike Reed. The customer service representatives are Anita Gabbert, Deanna Lehman, Julie McDonnell and Amy Reed. They will be transferring from the Muncie office.
To contact the Muncie office, call 800-647-0299 or go online to www.e-farmcredit.com
Japan approves Agrisure corn rootworm trait BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Corn growers and the industry received good news with the announcement that Agrisure RW corn rootworm insect control seed received full regulatory approval in the United States, Canada and Japan, according to the Illinois Corn Growers Assoc. (ICGA).
It has also received import approval in Australia and New Zealand.
“Japan is our largest export customer for Illinois corn, so this is good news for growers. We appreciate Japan’s business and their responsiveness on this issue,” said Steve Ruh, president of ICGA, of Sugar Grove.
“Demand for corn is growing, so we need to have more choices for traits and have access to the best available tools that technology can provide. However, I hope we also learned a valuable lesson regarding how critical it is to have timely introduction of new seed traits.”
ICGA supports the responsible introduction of genetic traits through biotechnology, Ruh noted. The National Corn Growers Assoc. also chimed in with its support.
“Growers who planted Agrisure this year are advised to follow the stewardship plan they signed when they planted this trait because there are other markets like Mexico which have not approved Agrisure. This is the same advice Syngenta is giving growers. It is sound advice and we applaud them for taking this positive step,” Ruh said.
The goal of Syngenta’s comprehensive stewardship program is to ensure grain with the Agrisure trait will remain in domestic markets. With this approval, Agrisure RW grain can be accepted by elevators exporting grain to Japan.
Syngenta will continue to implement the grain stewardship program with growers through the end of 2007. In 2008, Agrisure RW will be part of the seed industry’s Market Choices grain direction program.
White Owl Winery awarded Governor’s Cup
BIRDS, Ill. — White Owl Winery of Birds, Ill., was awarded the coveted Governor¹s Cup on Aug. 14. Joy Neighbors, one of the founders of White Owl, was presented with the Governor¹s Cup for Best Dessert/Sparkling Wine in the state at a luncheon at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield.
White Owl won the cup for its Grand Persimmon Sherry, which is the only commercially available wine of this type in the world. Wine master Brian Neighbors spent several years crafting and perfecting the sherry, which is made completely out of wild harvested Illinois persimmons.
White Owl will begin limited distribution of the sherry throughout the Midwest this autumn. Nationwide distribution will begin next year.
White Owl opened in November 2000 and has won almost 200 awards for its wines during that time. This is the first Governor¹s Cup for the winery.
This farm news was published in the Aug. 29, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee. |
