DAVE’S VIEW
David Janish, CEO
Greetings:
The United States has 10 times the
number of people and 1/5 of the
number of farmers and ranchers
we had in 1920. The population of
the U.S. was 106 million people in
1920; 32 million, or roughly 30%,
was directly involved in production
agriculture. In 2018, the U.S.
population is 327 million people
and less than 2% of the population
is involved in production
agriculture. On a global basis, the
world population has increased
from 1.8 billion people in 1920
to nearly 7.7 billion in 2018.
Although I couldn’t find statistics
on the number of farmers and
ranchers globally, I would expect we
would see a similar decrease in the
number of farmers and ranchers on
a global basis from 1920 to today.
What has allowed those
involved in agriculture to feed
a global population that has
grown 400% in 100 years with
75% less farmers and ranchers….
technology. Since our earliest days,
technology has allowed mankind
to ease our workload and become
more efficient. Moving from steam
4 HEARTBEAT | WINTER 2018
engines to internal combustion
engines, threshing machines to
combines, and pitch forks to
balers are just a few examples of
significant moves forward since
1920 which has allowed agriculture
to improve the quality and quantity
of food available to the world’s
population. And with each
generation, the technology we have
depended on has grown bigger,
stronger, more specialized and
much, much smarter.
The current generation of GPS
guided autosteer tractors, smart
planters, sprayers, and combines
have allowed farmers to reduce
their input costs and increase
efficiency and production. Similarly,
the livestock industry has seen
advances in genetics and integrated
production systems to increase
productivity while managing their
costs. Without these types of
advances, agriculture would have
been unable to keep up with the
demands of our growing world
population.
FCS Financial is focusing
on identifying and employing
technology to enhance our
business operations as well. Our
Core Business Strategies include
initiatives to Deliver Customer
Value and Pursue Operational
Excellence. These initiatives
are intended to drive us, as an
organization, to become more
efficient and to deliver exceptional
products and services to our
members in a rapidly changing
marketplace. Improving our ability
to deliver decisions and turn-
around time is a significant goal of
these initiatives. We view this as a
top priority in order to significantly
advance our digital capabilities
and maintain our marketplace
leadership. We remain dedicated
to improving and continually
embracing change in order to meet
the needs of our customers today
and tomorrow.
As we near the end of another
year, I often find it beneficial to
reflect on our accomplishments and
recognize where we could have done
better. Your association is poised
to have another solid year in 2018
which has allowed us to maintain
a strong financial position and our
credit quality continues to hold up
despite a challenging agricultural
environment. In another 90
days we will have a better idea of
the effects that the 2018 weather
patterns had on our members.
We anticipate that the current
environment in combination
with the challenges caused by the
weather will have some negative
impact on our members and the
association. However, we believe
that due to our disciplined approach
to lending and sound financial
management, we are well positioned
to continue to support agriculture
and rural communities.
With FCS Financial’s focus
on the future – on technology,
on our future leaders, and on our
responsiveness to our customers’
needs – you can be assured that we
will strive to continue to deliver the
best possible services, solutions and
support to our members both today
and for tomorrow.
Best regards,