By Eric Jenks, Special to NEAFA
For April, NEAFA spoke with Farm Credit East’s Executive Vice President Tom Cosgrove, and David Lane, who will be taking over some of Tom’s responsibilities in a few months. “I oversee the marketing and communication, public affairs, and knowledge exchange teams, among other duties,” said Cosgrove. “Farm Credit East is a credit and financial services cooperative. We’re member owned, and agriculture, forest products, and fishing are all we do. Along with credit and leasing, we can help with financial services like taxes, payroll needs, appraisals, and record keeping as well. We also have specialists who deal with crop insurance and risk management.”
“All of the products that we offer make up an important combination. It’s not just about providing capital. We understand the rules and regulations that our clients face, and our products and services are tailored to our members because of that. Our borrowers are our owners, which means that a portion of earnings on loans are returned to them as well.”
Growing up in Central NY on a dairy farm, Cosgrove has a long history with agriculture. “I went to the Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences,” said Cosgrove. “I knew early on that I was not cut out to farm myself, but I gained a newfound appreciation for it, and I looked for ways to stay involved. I studied communications, economics, and policy so that I could better understand the business of agriculture. I worked as a research assistant at Cornell out of college, and then worked in Washington for 5 years with US Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, including when he was on the US Senate Agriculture Committee for the 1996 Farm Bill. I got to know Vermont’s agricultural community well during that time period.
After I left Washington, agricultural coops intrigued me enough to work in a variety of roles for CoBank and Farm Credit East over the past 26 years. I feel very fortunate. I’ve had a great career, and I believe in the mission of Farm Credit East. I work for a great organization. Like I said earlier, our borrowers are our members, and to work on their behalf is a great thing. I feel fortunate to work for something I believe in and to have had the chance to have a variety of roles.”
For Farm Credit East, NEAFA is an important part of the ag community. “NEAFA is a great organization,” said Cosgrove. “We view our role in ag broadly,” said Cosgrove. “We may not do business directly with NEAFA members, as they may not be eligible for all of our products and offerings, but we recognize the important role that NEAFA members play for supporting the farm economy in the Northeast. Being a NEAFA member, it’s a great way to keep tabs of what’s going on in the industry. NEAFA tackles issues from a policy standpoint that cut across what our members are interested in and are concerned about. NEAFA members are key stakeholders and providers in the industry, and we want to be a part of that and support them.”
Looking towards the future, two areas Farm Credit East is focused on are sustainability matters and efficiency. “We’re trying to harness digital tools and technology to streamline the credit process,” said Lane. “We want to make it easier to do business for our members; if the transactional parts are easier to do, there’s more time for for our staff to focus on customers’ businesses both today and what they’re focused on in 5 years.”
“The same can be said for sustainability,” said Lane. “We’re working on ways to help our members achieve their goals. We’re excited about how farmers are approaching innovation and sustainability. You can see the financial benefits of practices like no-till, reduced till, and cover crops, and adoption rates for practices like that are high. Farmers are innovators. They’re constantly developing new tools to get things done in the most efficient way possible. When you look at sustainability goals, there are a lot of projects going on now with renewable energy, renewable natural gas, anaerobic digesters, etc. All of that research is exciting to the next generation of farmers, which helps keeps them on the farm. We’re helping our members access grants and incentives through reports on what’s available and direct assistance. Sustainability is an emerging area that we want to help our members take advantage of.”
For more information on Farm Credit East and what they do, visit www.farmcrediteast.com