The Added Value that Farm Credit Mid-America Provides Through Educational Opportunities

February 19, 2025 Kevin

Nicole Emenhiser (left), Senior Financial Officer with Farm Credit Mid-America based in their Bluffton, Indiana office, is joined by Lance Fiechter (right), a corn and soybean producer from Adams County and a member of the Farm Credit Mid-America Advocate Council. Photo: C.J. Miller / Hoosier Ag Today.

Many companies are satisfied with having you on-board as a customer and just providing you with the bare minimum in terms of service. However, the team with Farm Credit Mid-America does NOT work that way.

Nicole Emenhiser is a Senior Financial Officer based in the Bluffton, Indiana office of Farm Credit Mid-America. She says they provide educational opportunities—including seminars, conferences, and other resources—as an added-value for their farmer-owners.

“If you are wanting to grow, it is important to be a lifelong learner and that’s something that we take to heart,” says Emenhiser. “So, we want to provide opportunities for [farmers] to come together, learn new information, and be able to network with their peers.

“We want to work with the best-of-the-best, and so if we can help add value to their operation through educational events and meetings one-on-one to help them understand their financial position, it’s going to be something that’s important to us,” she says.

Hoosier Ag Today’s C.J. Miller chats with Nicole Emenhiser, Sr. Financial Officer based out of the Bluffton office, about the additional ways that customer-owners can learn more about economic trends in the ag industry through the educational seminars they offer. Photo: Molly Nichols / Hoosier Ag Today.

Lance Fiechter, a corn and soybean producer based in Adams County, is one of the many farmer-owners who has taken advantage of the educational opportunities and programs provided by Farm Credit Mid-America.

“They definitely provide good information about crop insurance,” says Fiechter. “Sometimes they have conferences that might hit on the topics like tax reform. It’s also nice to be able to call a lending officer and say, ‘What do you think about buying this farm?’ or ‘What do you think about this investment?’ or ‘Where are interest rates going?’ When you can bring those kinds of things back home and back to the farm, it definitely creates a lot of good things for the future.”

Fiechter says he appreciates Farm Credit Mid-America’s commitment to providing educational opportunities to help him grow his farm operation.

“If you aren’t informed about the future, what’s happening in the world, and the things that are always changing, you’re probably not going to be quite as successful. If you’re not growing, you might be dying from a farming or a business perspective. It’s always good to look for future opportunities and be in tune with everything that’s going on around you to make sure that you’re a part of the top-end of where things need to be,” says Fiechter.

Among the many customer-owners who are part of the educational seminars offered by Farm Credit Mid-America is Lance Fiechter. He’s a corn and soybean producer based near Decatur in Adams County. Photo: Molly Nichols / Hoosier Ag Today.

For more information about the next seminar, conference, or educational opportunity hosted by Farm Credit Mid-America, visit fcma.com.

CLICK BELOW to hear Hoosier Ag Today’s full conversation with Nicole Emenhiser, Senior Lending Officer with Farm Credit Mid-America based in Bluffton, Indiana.

CLICK BELOW to hear Hoosier Ag Today’s full conversation with Lance Fiechter, a corn and soybean producer from Adams County and a member of the Farm Credit Mid-America Advocate Council.