Agriculture can be a risky business, even for bankers.
That's why issues in agricultural financing will be the focus of a May 27 Texas Agricultural Summit Conference in Austin. Agriculture is also changing as a result of the 1996 Farm Bill, new trade relationships and technology. The challenge at the Texas Agricultural Summit Conference will be to set priorities for responding to these changes. Although the 1996 Farm Bill gave producers more flexibility in planting decisions, it also resulted in a riskier environment driven by market forces. The phasing down of fixed annual contract payments and elimination of ad hoc disaster payments will affect ways both producers and their creditors do business in the future, Nelson said.