FCW is practicing social distancing in our offices for the protection of our staff and customers. We encourage customers to conduct business with FCW electronically or by phone. If you must visit an office, please practice social distancing when at the counter or when meeting with a staff member. Thank you for your consideration.

With COVID-19 now spreading in the U.S., you’ve probably heard recommendations to wash your hands after contact with what are called high-touch surfaces: elevator buttons, public faucets, handrails, doorknobs, shopping carts, ATM screens, gas pumps, checkout keypads, and many more otherwise mundane objects we encounter throughout the day. The CDC has released some helpful resources that we thought we should share with our customers.

Farm Credit West, a cooperative lending institution focusing exclusively on the agricultural industry, recently announced strong financial results for 2019 with continued growth in net income, earning assets and capital. Farm Credit West benefited from record earnings as well as geographic and commodity diversity as a result of its activities in California and Arizona.

The health and safety of our customers and employees are paramount to Farm Credit West. We are monitoring the rapidly changing coronavirus (COVID-19) situation closely, including the March 11th World Health Organization declaration that COVID-19 is a global pandemic.

The 40th EcoFarm Conference – the oldest and largest organic farming conference in the West – went off without a hitch in late January, providing some 1,600 attendees with a wide range of information about how to grow food sustainably.

Farm Credit understands the vital connection between farmers and their land, as well as the importance of preserving our natural resources. These beliefs have motivated Farm Credit to be a long-standing sponsor of the Leopold Conservation Award.

Latinos have been the largest ethnic group in California since 2014 and make up an even larger portion of the population in many of California’s farming regions. In fact, the fastest growing population of farmers throughout the state are Latinos transitioning from farmworkers to farmers.

Recently, the National 4-H Poultry and Egg Conference was held in Louisville, Ky., earlier this month. The conference included a range of contests including the Avian Bowl, which tested contestants’ knowledge of exhibition, husbandry, anatomy, and several other poultry-related subjects in a game show-like fashion.

The Farm Credit Alliance was recently presented with FFA’s Distinguished Service Citation for its longstanding contributions to FFA and agricultural education. Katie Otto, development director for the California FFA Foundation, the state organization’s fund-raising arm, said the California FFA nominated Farm Credit for the award because of its generous and enduring support.

Latinos have been the largest ethnic group in California since 2014 and make up an even larger portion of the population in many of California’s farming regions. To support the entry of Latinos into agriculture, the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) and the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will hold the fifth-annual Latino Farmer Conference in November.