ABA Co-Sponsors Agricultural Finance Conference

August 3, 2000

Bankers from Canada and the United States will meet in October for only the second time in history for the North American Agricultural Finance Conference. Jointly sponsored by the American Bankers Association (ABA) and the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA), the North American Agricultural Finance Conference with the theme "Between Friends 2000" will be held at the Lombard Hotel in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada October 1-4. More than 500 senior agricultural banking professionals are expected to attend.

"This conference is designed to help agricultural bankers meet the challenges facing their business and their customers - including the increased globalization of the agricultural economy," said Gary Canada, president of the Bank of England, England, AR. and the ABA U.S. planning committee team leader. "By combing the efforts of the CBA and ABA to produce this conference, we are contributing to better American banking."

The conference is organized around seven major issues: trade, risk management, technology, transition agriculture, global economics and a renewed focus on the customer.

"Farm and ranch customers look to their banker for help in an increasingly complex and interdependent world," said John Blanchfield, director of the ABA's Center for Agricultural and Rural Banking. "We hope bankers who attend this conference will gain a better understanding of the unique position agriculture has in the world and will be able to assist their customers in this chaotic environment."