St. Louis, Missouri
April 1, 2008
Rabo AgriFinance and
Rabobank, N.A. have assembled clients from fields and farms
across the United States for a new agricultural advisory board,
the Rabo Production Agriculture Advisory Board.
Rabo AgriFinance and Rabobank, N.A. are the U.S. farm financing
and retail banking arms, respectively, of Rabobank Group, the
world's leading bank to the global food and agriculture
industry. Rabo AgriFinance provides a full suite of financing
solutions to production agriculture clients across the United
States. Rabobank, N.A. is a mid-size community bank serving
agricultural and other customers across a 700-mile expanse of
California.
Clients from both businesses were invited to join a new advisory
board -- the Rabo Production Ag Advisory Board -- that will help
Rabobank gain insight into issues affecting production
agriculture in the United States, and better position the bank
to meet the needs of its clients in all agricultural sectors.
"Our customers are the best source of knowledge about what is
actually taking place on the farm, within the herd, throughout
the orchard, or in the field," said Rick Henderson, President
and Chief Executive Officer of Rabo AgriFinance. "The
agriculture industry is evolving rapidly these days, and as a
committed partner to U.S. farmers and ranchers, we also must
respond and adapt to the changes our clients face. The Rabo
Production Ag Advisory Board allows us to stay on top of and
ahead of industry trends and issues so that we can further
strengthen our products, provide solutions to new challenges,
and improve our overall business offering. We are delighted and
proud to welcome these important clients -- all leaders in their
respective sectors -- as key business advisors on this Board,
and look forward to benefiting from their years of experience,
knowledge and deep talents."
The first meeting of the Rabo Production Ag Advisory Board was
held in late February in Arizona. The Board is made up of about
15 Rabo AgriFinance and Rabobank, N.A. clients, representing a
wide variety of production ag sectors ranging from cattle and
dairy to fruits, vegetables, vineyards, corn and soybeans. The
Board will meet annually to discuss key strategic issues and
challenges affecting production agriculture overall and
individual sectors as appropriate. Additionally, the clients on
the Board will be asked to help Rabobank identify opportunities
for new products and services, suggest areas for improved
service performance, and anticipate key trends and developments
that will affect production agriculture in the years ahead.
The feedback from Rabo's client advisors will also be used to
inform the research activities of Rabobank's Food & Agribusiness
Research and Advisory (FAR) department, a global team of
analysts who conduct research on subjects of strategic interest
to Rabobank's clients in the food and agriculture industry. The
FAR research reports are provided to Rabobank clients to help
them understand agricultural issues and trends in domestic and
international markets, and to position their ag businesses
accordingly.
"Founded as a cooperative bank in the 1890s by Dutch farmers,
Rabobank over the last century has retained its primary focus on
serving customers and financing agriculture," said Cor
Broekhuyse, General Manager of Rabobank International-Americas.
"The new Rabo Production Ag Advisory Board, like our other
client advisory boards, will ensure that Rabobank's business
activities stay aligned with the needs of our clients and our
clients' best interests remain top of mind. We greatly value the
expert insights and counsel from these leaders in U.S.
production agriculture, whose contributions will help strengthen
Rabobank's position as the most knowledgeable, committed and
resourceful financial partner to the global food and agriculture
industry."
The Rabo Production Ag Advisory Board includes these and other
members:
Bob Terry - Fisher Farms
Brian Hemann - Tuls Dairy Farm, Oregon Kansas
Cass Gebbers - Gebbers Farms David Freed - Silverado
WineGrowers, Washington California
Don Villwock - Villwock Farms Ernest Oberg - Oberg Farms,
Indiana Minnesota
Gaylon Lawrence, Jr. - Lawrence Group John Foster - West
Coast Turf, Tennessee California
Milo Ferini - Betteravia Farms Robert Funk - Express
Ranches, California Oklahoma
Roy Brown - Cattle Empire Steve Foglesong - Foglesong Farm,
Kansas Illinois
Tom Nunes, Jr. - Foxy Produce Tony DeGroot - DeGroot
Dairies, California California
Rabo AgriFinance, headquartered
in St. Louis, Missouri, originates and services agricultural
loans for farmers and ranchers throughout the United States.
Rabo AgriFinance offers a comprehensive suite of agricultural
financial services and crop insurance through a network of
relationship managers and loan production offices across the
U.S. With over 300 employees and roughly $5 billion in assets
under management, Rabo AgriFinance is one of the largest
agricultural lenders in America.
Rabobank, N.A. is a California community bank that provides
personalized service and a full array of quality products to
individuals, businesses, commercial real estate developers and
investors, and agricultural clients. With 80 retail offices and
13 financial service centers, Rabobank, N.A. serve the needs of
communities from Sacramento to the Mexican border with
California through local decision making and active community
involvement by our employees.
www.RabobankAmerica.com
From its century-old roots in the Netherlands,
Rabobank today is one of
the 25 largest banks in the world and, as one of the few banks
with a AAA credit rating from both Standard & Poor's and
Moody's, ranks among the safest banks in the world. In the
Americas, Rabobank is a specialist in customer-driven solutions
in the capital markets and structured finance arenas, a
community-focused mid-size California bank, a premier financial
partner to the entire American food and agribusiness industry,
and a leading provider of agricultural financing products to
U.S. farmers, ranches, input suppliers and agricultural
manufacturers. |
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