Farm Credit University celebrates 20 years of learning

Program offers courses for employees, ag lenders and ag producers 

Farm Credit University – known and respected throughout the AgFirst District and System for educating ag lenders and producers – was born from humble beginnings on the back of a Delta Airlines napkin. 

Dr. Dave Kohl, a professor at Virginia Tech, was working in the early 2000s on a request from Farm Credit of the Virginias to develop credit training for their Association. As was his habit, he stole a few moments while traveling to flesh out some ideas. 

“I remember seeing the napkin,” said Alicia Morris, then a graduate student at Virginia Tech. “He wrote out the vision for the program. He said this is really needed across the country. I could really see this going nationwide.” 

Kohl encouraged Morris to write her masters thesis on the project. But she was skeptical that it could go nationwide. “I didn’t think that would ever really happen.” 

Flash forward two decades. Farm Credit University is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Morris is now the program’s Managing Director, and Kohl, now professor emeritus at Virginia Tech, is a leading faculty member. The program educates Farm Credit employees, ag lenders and agricultural producers throughout the country. 

High-tech meets high-touch 

At the beginning, though, as Kohl and Morris were developing the basic online text modules and the manual grading system for Virginia, the AgFirst Board approached Kohl about a need for a consistent training program across the District. 

Many Associations were expecting a wave of retirements and a subsequent hiring boom, Morris said. “They knew the new people were not going to want to sit in a corner and read the credit manual. They wanted something more exciting and engaging for their new credit staff.” 

Today, Farm Credit University offers online and in-person training, as well as a blend of the two, which “combines high-tech components of e-learning with high-touch components of traditional classroom learning,” said Ronnie Hucks, an instructor with FCU since the beginning. “We’ve found that to be a really good blend.” 

The program offers four academies: 

• Credit Academy to teach credit analysts and loan officers basic and advanced skills. 
• Leadership Academy to develop soft skills for AgFirst District and Farm Credit System employees who are looking to advance their careers. 
• Producer Academy for agricultural producers looking to enhance their business management and planning skills. 
• Operations Systems Academy to provide employees training on applications used in loan origination and servicing. 

“We really stress that when folks come out of any FCU program that they have tangible takeaways or skills that they can take back and put into practice immediately,” Hucks said. For example, Credit Academy graduates leave with critical thinking skills to connect the dots between the financial and non-financial components of ag lending. And producers walk away with the ability to develop and execute a well-thought-out business plan for their farming operation. 

Keys to success 

Over the years, Farm Credit University has relied on its many alliances for sustained success. 

“The lifeblood of Farm Credit University is certainly our Association partners, and we rely on them heavily,” Hucks said. Association partners provide insights and perspective into the training that is needed and participate in sessions as faculty, content developers and content reviewers as courses evolve. 

Another key to the program’s success is a faculty that combines academic experts with practitioners who have years of front-line experience. 

“That is so critical in really providing a great blend of theory and then application,” Hucks said. 

Today, Farm Credit University offers training nationwide, fulfilling Kohl’s vision conceived on the back of that airline napkin. And it’s still growing. Leaders have a plan in place to identify and train subject matter experts from within the System to expand the program’s faculty in the coming months, starting with the Credit Academy. 

“It’s not often that you see a program run for 20 years by the same people that hasn’t stagnated,” AgFirst CEO Tim Amerson said. “But the group running Farm Credit University is continually updating and adding courses to make sure our employees, as well as our lenders and their customers, have modern, relevant learning opportunities." 

“The impact this program has had on the AgFirst district – and the Farm Credit system – cannot be overstated. It has been instrumental in the success of so many, from new hires and developing leaders to credit staff and borrowers. That impact will be exponential as it evolves over the next 20 years and beyond.”