A boots-on-the-ground lender with passion for ag

By BRENNA WIEGAND
For the Capital Press

Harvest Capital Company of Canby, Ore., founded in 1992, is one of the largest independent commercial agricultural real estate lenders in the region and the Northwest Ag Show’s presenting sponsor.

“We’ve grown from an idealistic desire to serve agriculture and the business of real estate finance in agriculture to almost a billion-dollar player in the Northwest,” founder Brian Field said. “Harvest Capital is a boots-on-the-ground lender. We are intimately and integrally involved with each one of our borrowers through the experience of structuring their operation with long-term financing, from start to finish.

“It’s not just about money to us,” Field said. “It’s an ingredient for the stabilization of balance sheet structure and success for our family farms and ranches scattered throughout the Northwest.

“We want to enhance and add to that picture and we do that through very intense planning involving not only our customer’s agricultural real estate finances, but quite often, their entire structure into the future,” he said.

“We are involved in all aspects of assisting our customers with whatever their needs are, but at the base we are commercial land real estate lenders,” Field said. “That’s the one thing we do, we do it with passion for our producers and our industry and we don’t miss very often.”

One of the top things Field encourages farmers not to do is put all their financial eggs in one basket.

“If you’ve got two farms and they’re 22 miles apart, throwing those farms into the same mortgage is not beneficial to the ownership of the farm,” he said. “Separating them gives farmers leverage on their terms rather than on the dictated terms of their lender.”

Farmers, ranchers and agribusiness people accept special risks and face very specialized challenges, he said.

“In order to meet those challenges, they will need the most advanced credit services and presentation techniques available and we provide the tools, ability and experience today to help them finance tomorrow’s agriculture,” Field said.

An integral part of Harvest Capital’s success is the extensive ag experience of its employees.

“We spend a lot of time and money looking for the leadership background inspired through our high school FFA programs and finely tuned through our ag colleges,” Field said.

Field currently is on FFA’s National Board of Trustees.

“These students are part of the future of American agriculture, something the public should be aware of and be sure to support,” Field said. “Trades are what make this nation tick and agriculture and the FFA are the cream of the crop.”

Representatives of Harvest Capital will be available during the Northwest Ag Show to answer visitors’ questions.