Farm Credit West, a cooperative lending institution focusing exclusively on the agricultural industry, recently announced strong financial results for 2018 with continued growth in net income, earning assets and capital. Farm Credit West benefited from strong earnings as well as geographic and commodity diversity as a result of its activities in California and Arizona.

Central Valley Food Bank moved into a new 145,000 square foot facility in Fresno last summer that nearly tripled their space and allowed the 27-year-old non-profit to greatly expand its efforts to feed the hungry from Madera to Bakersfield.

Multiple associations of the Farm Credit System, which has served the nation’s agricultural and rural communities for more than 100 years, have come to the aid of a community in need. Together they have donated nearly $500,000 to help victims of the devastating Camp Fire in Butte County, the deadliest fire in California’s history.

Farm Credit West, ACA, one of the nation’s largest agricultural lending cooperatives, is proud to announce they will once again be distributing patronage dividends to qualifying member-stockholders as a return on their equity from robust 2018 earnings.

Anarely Flores has farming in her DNA. Her grandfather was a farmer in Mexico, and when her family visited him during the summer as a child, she would be put to work. But she didn’t like farm work and her mother is employed in agriculture so she decided at an early age that she would go in a different direction.

Farm Credit West is a proud supporter of veterans. Every year, our Veteran Affairs Coordinator Len Monaco, spends a significant amount of time traveling to various universities in California in an effort to strengthen relationships with instructors and Student Veteran Organizations. Len utilizes these visits to introduce careers in agriculture to a group of students whose strong values often align to work in this industry.

The secretary of the state Department of Food and Agriculture told Imperial Valley growers and officials Wednesday that her agency continues to work to keep agriculture viable in California. At a luncheon sponsored by Farm Credit Services Southwest in Imperial, Karen Ross discussed efforts the state is doing to address key issues such as food safety, labor issues, and the cost of doing business in the Golden State.

Each year, Madera-based Valley Children’s Healthcare holds several events to raise money to help Valley families receive top-quality medical care regardless of their ability to pay. This year, a lucky auction winner at the 2^nd annual Kids, Cowboys and Clays fundraiser was able to take home an authentic Fresno Grizzlies Triple-A championship ring valued at $3,000, courtesy of Farm Credit West and the Farm Credit Alliance.

Bringing new farmers and ranchers into agriculture and helping them succeed is an important priority in California and across the nation. As in many fields, the average age of farmers is rising. In fact, the most recent U.S. Census of Agriculture showed that the average principal farm owner in 2012 was 58.3 years old, up from just 50.5 years in 1982.

In celebration of “National Read a Book Day” on Thursday, September 6, volunteers from the local agriculture community in Imperial Valley participated in the first annual "Read with a Farmer" Day.