In a recent column I discussed what agrilenders who attended the Advanced Ag Lending School in Omaha, NE, thought were their best experiences in dealing with customers. This time let’s turn the tables and discuss the worst.

"Top Ten Worst Experiences"

• Working with a producer who has a loss but refuses to identify it and try to work it out.

• Telling a customer they are out of options; however, the customer started over doing something else and are better off for it.

• Watching a family struggle financially and lose all their equity.

• Working with a three-generation family farm with too many people living off of it.

• A customer looking through their file when the lender took a bathroom break. Customer was lost based on the written comments.

• After working out a restructuring deal, a signed loan agreement said no more purchases above $1,000 without permission. Customer purchased a new Lincoln Continental, broke the agreement, got mad, and moved their business to another institution. They are living off equity.

• Watching a third and fourth generation go through equity while living "high off the hog."

• Father bailing out son from a fraudulent operation his son was perpetrating and father losing up to 80 percent of his farm.

• Not being able to make loan to a young producer whose dad died. The step-mom and son didn’t get along and the step-mom liquidated the farm.

• Just recently sold collateral (machinery and livestock) on bad credit and only got 10 cents on a dollar.

Wow, wonder what keeps lenders awake at night – now you see the other side of the desk!

Home Again

It sure is nice to be in Blacksburg for a while. I’ll be able to catch my breath for a week or so and play on my farm.

My e-mail address is:sullylab@vt.edu

Editors' note: Dave Kohl, The Corn and Soybean Digest Trends Editor, is an ag economist at Virginia Tech. He recently completed a sabbatical working with the Royal Bank of Canada. He is now back at Virginia Tech with his academic appointment, which is teaching, extension, and applied research.

To see Dave Kohl's previous road warrior adventures type Dave Kohl in the Search blank at the top of the page.

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