Fall has arrived. Very important elections are coming up on November 3rd, including governor races in both Wisconsin and Michigan. State administrations have a tremendous impact on how our farmers and members are treated from a regulatory standpoint. Please remind all of your friends to vote on election day.

From my window, it seems like we have had plenty of rain over the last few weeks. It definitely would have helped our corn and soybeans a lot more if that rain had arrived four to six weeks earlier. Although, there may still be some time for it to assist with the sugar beet tonnage. Now, we need some drier weather for fall harvest. Our farmers work hard all year, but cooperative weather patterns remain a must. Another reason we continue to say our prayers daily – hoping and praying you have a safe and successful harvest season.

Our Board of Directors and executive team hosted a joint board meeting in August with the Board and executive team of Farm Credit of Western Arkansas. The meeting with our Farm Credit partners was very successful. The group learned how each of our associations go to market, the commodity mix of our members, and discussed each association’s successes, challenges, and technology. Along with the meeting, we were able to engage with a GreenStone customer when we toured their dairy farm in southwest Michigan.

Our team had outstanding numbers to report to our Board. For the first half of the year, GreenStone had the best financial results of any Farm Credit association in the country. Loan growth, credit quality, profitability, operating efficiency, and capital all remain very strong through August. Our financial success is a direct result of the dedication, commitment, and success of our members. Thank you for your support.

The results of our customer satisfaction survey were received in July and they were again excellent. Overall, 95% of our members who responded to the survey were satisfied and highly satisfied. These are outstanding results for any business, especially financial institutions. All of our business lines, whether agricultural or country living lending, crop insurance or tax and accounting, received excellent scores. Our GreenStone teammates continue to follow our Core Four values every day: Customer First, Do the Right Thing, Deliver Quality and Get Involved. I really believe it’s our team’s commitment to these values that drives the customer service our members see with every interaction.

Speaking of the team, another member of our executive team has announced their retirement. Paul Anderson, our Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer, will be retiring in January 2027 following a 43-year career with the Farm Credit System.

Paul started his career with Farm Credit in 1983 when he began as a loan officer with Farm Credit Services of Northeast Wisconsin. From 1992 through 2004, Paul was employed by AgriBank, with most of his responsibilities leading the Wisconsin Risk Asset Unit. In 2005, GreenStone’s Chief Credit Officer at the time, Jerry Brian, made the outstanding decision to hire Paul as our Director of Risk Assets. After Jerry’s retirement in 2009, Paul was promoted to Chief Credit Officer for GreenStone. During Paul’s time as Chief Credit Officer, he has managed the growth in GreenStone’s total assets from $4.8 billion to $16.3 billion today. With him on our executive team, our Patronage payments to our members have grown from $12 million in 2009 to $125 million this year. 

GreenStone and I will continue to rely on Paul for his leadership until his retirement as he now serves as Executive Vice President and Strategic Advisor.

During retirement, Paul will get to spend extra time with his wonderful wife Tammy and continue to keep tabs on their talented daughters, Amy and Ashley.

I can’t thank Paul enough for his friendship and leadership. Paul’s contributions to our members in northeast Wisconsin, Michigan, and the GreenStone organization are too numerous to count.  He has built an outstanding credit department with a very deep bench.

Speaking of the deep bench, I am pleased to announce that Mike Frodermann was promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer, effective September 1, 2026.

Mike joined GreenStone in December 2024 as Senior Vice President of Portfolio Risk Management. Since then, he has provided strategic oversight of portfolio risk management across all business segments, chaired key credit committees, and helped advance initiatives that support GreenStone’s business objectives. You can read more on the depth of experience Mike brings to his new role on page 18. Congratulations Mike!

Also included in this issue of our Partners magazine is recognition for the Women in Agribusiness award received by our GreenStone Director Terri Hawbaker. We’re proud to have board members who bring varied experiences and perspectives to the association and are pleased to see Terri recognized with this honor. Congratulations Terri!

I hope all of our members have a great fall! And to our farmer members, I hope you have a very successful harvest! 

Please feel free to reach out to me at any time if I can ever be of assistance. As always, thank you for feeding my family, our country, and the world, and thank you for your membership!

 

To view the article in the online 2026 Fall Partners Magazine, click here.