focused bank. We have a concentration, it’s not all agriculture, but a big part, probably a little over 50% of our customer’s base is somehow either directly in agriculture or maybe they work for a company like a grain elevator company or a co-op or farm store.”The bank serves communities where economic fortunes rise and fall with commodity prices, currently facing pressures from low grain prices and elevated production costs. Current market conditions have created widespread anxiety among agricultural customers. “Many of those customers are pretty nervous just because agriculture goes in cycles, but we’ve been doing it for over a hundred years,” Schifferdecker acknowledges. SUPPORTING CUSTOMERS THROUGH ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY Agricultural banking in 2025 comes with formidable challenges. Federal Reserve data shows farm finances and credit conditions have deteriorated steadily across the Midwest and Plains states, with agricultural real estate values declining approximately 2% from the previous year. For GNBank, where over half the customer base connects directly or indirectly to agriculture, these headwinds demand expertise and patience. “We do that every day. We’re visiting with customers and trying to look at it as a relationship versus a transaction,” Schifferdecker explains. “We are an ag 130 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 12, ISSUE 10
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