John Ryan, newly appointed president of Farm Credit Corporation, heads west to Regina this week with some definite ideas about how to run the federal farm lender.
He is an expatriate Nova Scotian with little direct agriculture sector experience but he already understands the FCC priority.
“The FCC has a long history of supporting the family farm and that will continue to be its focus,” he said in an Aug. 21 interview from Montreal, where he was preparing for the move west.
There may be ways to expand the mandate of the crown corporation to include more loans to rural business, “but farmers have told us not to dilute our focus, not to become just another bank. That is a very strong message.”
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But even before he first sits behind the president’s desk at FCC head offices, the 47-year-old Ryan has an idea of some things he would like to accomplish.
He wants to make a priority of developing affordable lending programs for beginning farmers.
One possibility could be a form of “quasi-equity” which would involve loans with little or no repayment obligations in the early building years and higher repayment requirements later if the farm becomes successful.
“It would be keeping many of the principles of equity but not full-fledged equity,” said Ryan. “I plan to talk to people, challenging them to come up with a package of programs that work for beginning farmers.”
He intends to try to end the sniping between bankers and the FCC by suggesting more co-operation.
Co-operation is essential
“I think I’ll be spending a lot of my time talking to people at other lending institutions, the chartered banks, the credit unions, and asking how we can work together,” he said. “If others are providing a service in some area, I don’t think there necessarily is a role for FCC.”
But he also rejects the Canadian Bankers’ Association argument that FCC should bow out of loans to commercially viable operations and potential bank customers to become more of a lender of last resort.
“I don’t think FCC should be positioned as a lender of last resort,” he said. “That would be a very negative image for our customers.”
It also would not be good for FCC’s financial position, since last resort lenders take on higher-risk customers. Ryan said profit should not be FCC’s main goal, but it should at least operate to break even.
The new FCC president and chief operating officer comes to the position from the Business Development Bank of Canada, where he has been executive vice-president and chief operating officer.
He said he thought it would be a good career move when he decided to become one of 30 to apply for the FCC job after the government decided not to rehire former president Gerry Penney.
“I have been number two at BDC and this gives me a chance to do the number one job,” he said. “It is a great opportunity and a good time to be getting involved in the industry when it is expanding.”
The Mulgrave, N.S. native said he has not had direct farm contact but he has lived in rural communities “and I think I know what makes rural Canada tick.”
He begins his new job Sept. 2.
