HeartBeat Winter 2018 | Page 4

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,