RMFU Is Opposing Nomination of Rodney Brown To Farm Credit Board
Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (RMFU) in a letter to U.S. Senators from Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, is opposing the nomination of Rodney Brown to the Farm Credit Administration Board, which regulates the Farm Credit System, and is asking President Trump to nominate someone better suited for the position and its duties.
Brown is the immediate past president and CEO of the California Bankers Association (CBA) and a past member of the American Bankers Association (ABA) board of directors. In the past, ABA and CBA have publicly lobbied against the farmer-owned cooperative business structure of the Farm Credit System. The ABA actively lobbied Congress to change the tax structure of the Farm Credit System to put it at a disadvantage. “Given this information, we feel Mr. Brown’s nomination is a blatant conflict of interest,” says RMFU President and farmer Dr. Dale McCall
The Farm Credit System provides competitive banking and loan services designed to support agriculture, but especially young and beginning farmers and ranchers. “More importantly, as a farmer-owned financial cooperative, Farm Credit is in business to make the lives farmers and ranchers better, rather than stockholders whose only interest is in wealth transfer from rural America into their own pockets,” adds McCall.
“Farmers, ranchers, and rural citizens are dealing with enough stress, as it is. Please take steps to make sure the Farm Credit Administration Board is led by someone who is honestly invested in strengthening economic options and opportunities for farm and ranch families,” McCall is asking the senators.