Midwestern Farm Credit Unit Posts $509-Million Loss
The Farm Credit System’s Omaha district, hit by falling land values and troubled loans, lost more than $509 million last year, officials said today.
“I’m sure I shock no one with the statement that we’ve seen better years,” said John Harling, president of the Omaha, Neb., district.
Harling said the biggest loss was in the district’s Federal Land Bank operations, which lost $385 million. The four-state district is made up of Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming.
Harling said the losses were caused by sagging values of farmland, which he said dropped 60% in some areas. The Land Bank operations had posted an $11-million loss in 1984.
Harling said federal restructuring of the Farm Credit System could help the system with a stronger performance in 1986.
“We believe that we’ve experienced the worst of the storm,” Harling said.
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