Agricultural Lending in a Down Cycle: Identifying, Managing & Resolving Credit Risk

Learn how to identify early signs of agricultural credit deterioration, evaluate restructuring options, manage borrower relationships, and make confident lending decisions that reduce losses and strengthen portfolio performance.

Many agricultural borrowers are entering another renewal cycle with reduced liquidity, accumulated operating debt, and far less ability to absorb another disappointing year. A strong collateral position may provide time, but it does not correct inadequate repayment capacity. Agricultural lenders must be able to distinguish a temporary setback from a structural financial problem — and then make timely, well-supported decisions about renewal, restructuring, risk-rating changes, additional advances, or exit.

This practical webinar will examine the critical decisions lenders face when an agricultural credit begins to deteriorate. We will discuss how to identify and quantify carryover debt, evaluate working-capital erosion, test realistic repayment capacity, and determine whether terming out operating debt provides a workable solution or merely postpones a larger problem. Participants will also learn how to develop and monitor effective restructuring plans, recognize when a plan is failing, and manage controlled or forced exit strategies when continued financing is no longer appropriate.

Because successful workouts depend on more than financial analysis, the program will also address communication as a core credit-risk function. Participants will learn how to establish financial reality, define the repayment gap, require a specific corrective plan, set measurable expectations, and conduct difficult conversations without becoming either unnecessarily adversarial or overly accommodating. The objective is not simply to manage troubled loans — it is to intervene earlier, maintain control of the credit, reduce avoidable losses, and improve outcomes for both the financial institution and the borrower.

NOTE: All materials are subject to copyright. Transmission, retransmission, or republishing of any webinar to other institutions or those not employed by your institution is prohibited. Print materials may be copied for eligible participants only.