Pay Hikes in Farm Credit System Hit

Regulatory documents say the national Farm Credit System, which asked the government this week for up to a $6-billion bail-out, has given its top executives salary boosts of 50% or more since 1980.

The system’s regulators contend the salary increases for the chief operating officers of its regional banks are needed to attract and keep talented managers. But Sen. J. James Exon (D-Neb.) calls the pay scales arrogant in a system that is asking taxpayers to provide a financial life preserver.

“I think the whole system is outrageous,” Exon said in an interview. “If you look at their salary ranges in 1980, how they’ve advanced, they’ve almost doubled . . . at the very time that the Farm Credit System is going bust.”

In fact, documents say some of the salary ranges for the top regional executives have more than doubled.

According to a list provided Exon by the Farm Credit Administration, the system’s federal regulators, pay scales in the system’s Louisville, Ky., district have risen as much as 140% in the last six years, and in the Sacramento, Calif., district by about 120%.

The document lists pay only in ranges, without citing the actual amount for each district official. Ron Erickson, a spokesman for the regulatory agency, said the highest-paid regional chief now makes $189,750.