Farming has been a very profitable business for the past decade. When there is a period of farm prosperity, the main asset farmers own – land – becomes more valuable as demand for farmland increases.

Our communities cannot reach their full potential without the local presence of a bank – a bank that understands the financial and credit needs of its citizens, farmers, businesses and government. I am concerned this model may be in jeopardy, given the massive weight of new rules and regulations that will result from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank Act). The vast majority of banks in this country have never made an exotic mortgage loan or taken on excessive risks.