Agricultural Credit Manager

Working Schedule

• Agricultural Credit Managers work full-time jobs, typically during normal bank hours, with nights, weekends, and holidays off. Occasional travel may be necessary. 

Typical Duties

• Schedule appointments to meet with loan or credit applicants and other potential borrowers, including farmers, local agribusinesses, or rural community businesses in the ag sector
• Review applications and verify reported income, assets, property values, tax payments, and debts of potential borrowers as part of the underwriting process
• Complete financial spreading tasks to transfer applicant financial data into analysis software
• Consider specific risks outside of the borrower’s control, such as market conditions, crop yields, livestock prices, etc. 
• Collaborate with analysts and property appraisers, as needed 
• Determine whether or not applications should be approved, what collateral needs to be put up (if any), the loan or credit amounts to be offered, suitable interest rates, and applicable repayment terms
• Complete applications and carefully review risks and terms with borrowers
• Keep clients updated on any information relevant to their accounts/portfolios
• Meet with institutional leadership to discuss issues, priorities, and goals

Additional Responsibilities

• Conduct periodic, scheduled reviews of existing accounts
• Complete training and development sessions, or organize them for other team members, as needed
• Help write, review, or revise credit administration policies to align with updated laws, regulations, and guidelines, in order to improve efficiency and compliance 
• Maintain good relations with local farmers, agribusiness owners, industry associations, and related organizations or agencies

Soft Skills

• Analytical
• Communication skills
• Customer service 
• Decisive
• Detail-oriented
• Independent 
• Integrity 
• Objective
• Organized
• Patient 
• Problem-solving

Technical Skills

• Financial modeling and analysis skills
• Credit evaluation and loan management software
• Knowledge of the agricultural sector 
  • Agricultural markets
  • Crop production
  • Farming economics
  • Livestock prices
• Risk assessment and management principles
• Spreadsheets
• Customer relationship management software

• Banks, credit unions, and other lending institutions

Agricultural businesses are vital to the economy at all levels but have particular impacts on rural communities. When an ag business fails for any reason, the loss can be devastating to the local economy. But private lending institutions can’t afford to take big risks when it comes to offering loans or extending credit. 

Agricultural Credit Managers must be very objective when assessing the creditworthiness of a business. They can’t rely on wishful thinking. They must also consider the effects of external factors that may help or hurt the borrower’s business. Sometimes credit managers have to make tough and even unpopular choices, without seeming to come across as unfair or unempathetic.

The agricultural sector has been hit hard by various climate and environmental factors, which can increase costs, decrease crop production, and lead to financial losses. Agribusinesses must do their best to adapt, which can involve making “climate-smart” practices or trying more resilient crop varieties. In addition, many farmers are shifting to more sustainable and environmentally-friendly practices, though there can be added costs to such moves. 

The FDIC lists five “perennial health hazards” to the sector, including environmental risks, market volatility, rising interest rates, geopolitical risks, and a general decline in farmland values. It goes on to note that “Robust credit concentration risk management begins at the bank level, includes sound agricultural lending practices, and considers any associated third-party risks.” In other words, Agricultural Credit Managers have to understand and follow established practices to help mitigate the above risks as best as possible.