Congress gets into Rabobank-FCS debate

Feedstuffs, October, 2004 by Sally Schuff

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Opposition far outweighed support for the proposed sale of the second-largest Farm Credit System (FCS) association in the U.S. to Dutch-owned Rabobank during a House Agriculture subcommittee hearing last week.

It appears, however, that the controversy may trigger a long-overdue debate on how U.S. lending practices could be tailored to better serve the rapidly evolving needs of 21st century farmers, ranchers, cooperatives and their financial institutions.

The public airing of the first proposed sale of an FCS cooperative to a private bank came during a House Agriculture subcommittee hearing held Sept. 29 by chairman Frank Lucas (R., Okla.). At the end of nearly four hours, Lucas summarized the hearing by saying, "I can assure you, this...