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Federal Land Bank Celebrates 50 Years of Service if-'- V , • - . . . J&V.'-wV* "> i" sgis ffcsr 4| : ^ '*> <*> i4 • r:.<s Mmmmmmd "> common, but unite rgirded with the privilege to pay any extra amount on the loan at any time. Thus farmers are encouraged to use credit when needed, with flexible repayment plans that allow repayment of the debt when money is available. The lowest possible interest rates are offered in keeping with purpose of the system. Twice since 1947, the Land Bank has voluntarily reduced interest rates on loans outstanding. The Federal Land Bank Association of Woodstock now has nearly 500 loans with an outstanding loan balance of over $11% million. Farmers in McHenry, Lake, and Boone Counties have grown to rely on the* Land Bank for their long term credit needs. The association is managed by Thomas L. Frey, Woodstock, under the direction of the following board of directors: Charles P. Weingart, McHenry, President; Lloyd J. Turner, Garden Prarie, Vice President; Charles V. Head, Harvard; Kenneth Denman, Lake Villa; and Russell J. Kelahan, Woodstock. American farmers, borrowing from their twelve Federal Land Banks through 700 Federal Land Bank Associations, now own the largest cooperative farm mortgage credit system in the world. The Federal Lana Bank system began 50 years ago. It now provides first mortgage farm loans for farmers in all fifty states and Puerto Rico, with 20 per cent of all outstanding farm mortgage credit now held by the Land Banks. A year long celebration has been dedicated to "America's Farmers: Providers of Plenty." The Federal Land Bank Association of Woodstock is one of the 700 associations, and serves McHenry, Boone, and Lake Counties. Otto Kerner, Governor of the State of Illinois, has proclaimed the Month of April, 1967 as Federal Land Bank Month in Illinois, and calls upon all citizens to join with the Fbderal Land Banks and local Land Bank Associations to pay just tribute to those engaged in our state's agriculture. Let us examine the growth and impact of this great system. Prior to 1917 farmers could not obtain adequate long term mortgage credit. Much of the credit then was on a 6 mo.-l year plan -- and even then in limited amounts. Teddy Roosevelt, then President of the United States, appointed a 5 man Country Life Commission in 1908. One of their findings confirmed the lack of a dependable source of credit for U. S. farmers at reasonable cost and on other terms suited to their needs. So on a hot humid July day in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed into law the Federal Farm Loan Act. It established 12 Federal Land Banks, covering the nation. It was a government sponsored credit system, with much of the original capital supplied by the government. At the same time creators of the system established that each borrower would buy stock in each local association equal to 5% of his loan. The association in turn would invest an equal amount in the district Land Bank. Today farmers provide all capital for the system in this manner. The last government capital was repaid in 1947. The law established definite territories for the twelve district Land Banks, but permitted a local association to form wherever ten or more farmers needed loans totaling at least $20,000. By the end of 1917, 2100 local associations had, been chartered and farmers had obtained 14,000 loans for nearly $30 million. The number of associations grew to a peak of nearly 5,000 across the nation. The average size loan in the St. Louis district in 1917 was $1,856, compared to the average size in 1966 of $26,280. Loanable ftinds are private dollars. The source is sale of Land Bank bonds on the money markets of the country thru a fiscal agent in New York. In this manner dollars can be moved from surplus areas to the financing of individual farms. Farm lending is the only purpose of the Land Bank system. The system rocked along thru the twenties, growing and serving an expanding agriculture. Then the thirties arrived. By 1932 farmer incomes were almost at the vanishing point and by 1933 the farmers' plight was desperate. Nearly one-half of the FLB loans were deliquent. Credit was nearly impossible to obtain. Many holders of short term mortgage loans were unable to renew them. The foreclosure rate in this country at that time was reportedly 40 per 1,000 loans. It was a sad time indeed. But in 1933 the Emergency Farm Mortgage Act was passed. This provided for refinancing of farmer's debts by means of both FLB and Commissioner loans - 1st and 2nd mortgages were allowed. Principal payments were deferred and many other features allowed the Land Bank to "come to the rescue" of agriculture. The system took over many loans from banks and insurance companies - on farms where foreclosure had seemed the only alternative. The Farm Credit Administration was formed in 1933, as the supervisory and regulatory agency of not only the Ffederal liuid Banks, but also of the Federal Intermediate Credit Banks and the Production Credit Association that formed in that year for short term farm credit needs, and the Banks for Cooperatives. From this time of great crisis, the Land Bank has moved steadily forward as the leader in farm mortgages. At the present time about 20 per cent of all outstanding farm mortgage credit is: held by the FLB system. There are 390,000 loans thru 700 local associations, with $5 billion presently outstanding. In the last 10 years, this outstanding balance has increased from $1.6 billion to the present $5 billion. The Land Bank success story centers around several key loans, which means that some of each payment goes on the principal in such a manner that the loan pays off completely by the time it is due. This approach is common place today but apparently was a revolutionary approach in the early years. Repayments have always been geared to the man's income. Loan lengths of up to 35 years became Bricklayer Training Program First in Illinois Three young men from McHenry County have been undergoing an intensive six week, eight hour a day Bricklayer Training Program at Structural Clay Products Research Laboratory in Geneva, Illinois. This training program, the first of its kind in Illinois, is financed by Federal money from a grant to Structural Clay Products Institute under the Manpower Development and Training Act. The program is sponsored by the Fox Valley Conference of Apprenticeship and Training made up of members of the Fox Valley General Contractors Association and Bricklayers Locals 16, 26, and 27. The Geneva Public Schools are the educational coordinators. Twelve weeks of on-the-job training will follow, after which the students will become indentured to the regular apprenticeship program approved by the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training. w /- 0 -y -v. w H ,.%, tV' s' f •V><- '&; iiy>mgm - 'i. * *; 'C ^ ' "V^/7 • c m m Realtor*: a professional in real estate v subscribes to a strict coda of ethics aat a member of the local and state boards and of the National Association of Real Estate Boards. Presented By McHenry County Real Estate Board