First Financial Bank Is Poultry Farm Friendly

A tough pair of Wranglers and Red Wing boots covered by protective booties are not required tools of the trade for agriculture loan officers. But they may be necessary for those who want to be successful.

First Financial Bank’s Fayetteville office knows its clients’ home décor better than the clients know the interior design of FFB’s office.

“We have a lot of farm knowledge,” said Randy Ratcliff, vice president agriculture lending at FFB. “We also have a lot of wonderful people here that understand every phase of the industry. The majority of our loans are done on a kitchen table. We close million-dollar loans with people that have never been in our office.

“You can’t send a normal banker in a coat and tie out to a farm. You have to go out there for yourself. We’ve been in those houses. We wear blue jeans out there, put the little booties on and everything. I can’t help you unless I know what the problem is.”

If FFB’s loan amounts are an indication, there have been a lot of dirty coffee cups. Last year, FFB closed about $400 million in loans, including about $70 million out of Fayetteville. Located on Joyce Boulevard in Paradise Valley Center, FFB does business throughout Northwest Arkansas as well as in portions of Missouri and Oklahoma.

The Fayetteville office closed about $25 million in 2002 in Small Business Administration, Farm Service Agency and direct loans combined. FFB’s FSA loans alone totaled about $12 million last year.

“[FFB] as a company is the largest user of farm service agency funds in the United States,” Ratcliff said.

First Financial Bank of El Dorado is held by First Financial Banc. It sold six Northwest Arkansas locations in 2000 to Simmons First Bank of Rogers. But the company decided to keep a presence in the area with its own niche. And since many members of the family-owned bank had ties to the poultry industry, that became a point of concentration.

FFB also has a mortgage department managed by Debra Taylor, but the entire Fayetteville office has just seven employees.

Moving into areas with large poultry house populations, FFB also has agriculture lending offices in Morrilton; Mena; Nacogdoches, Texas; Elizabethtown, Ky.; Carthage, Miss.; and Enterprise, Ala. FFB was the top lender in Mississippi in 2002 and named the Advocate of the Year for the SBA.

Ratcliff came to FFB from Farm Credit Services’ Lonoke office. The Russellville-based firm was about the only company at the time that was closing large poultry farm loans.

“[FFB] had a small agri part on its books in El Dorado, but they figured if they were looking for poultry loans, Northwest Arkansas was the place to be,” Ratcliff said.

FFB has given its employees the best training possible, even sending some of them to Atlanta for the National Poultry Convention to talk to industry leaders so that FFB can keep up with the “cutting edge.”

Ratcliff said anytime you’re dealing with a poultry farm, there are eventually going to be some problems, such as a flock of bad birds. Also, last August propane gas was selling for 68 cents a gallon, but it jumped to $1.02 per gallon in January. Ratcliff said helping those farmers buy their propane in advance can avoid later profit margin losses.

“There’s a lot of success stories up here where good people wanted to stay home on the family farm,” Ratcliff said. “Poultry helped make Northwest Arkansas. But it’s kind of had a bad name lately. All you read about are the bad stories. But there is a waste management plan on every farm we’ve financed. The best stewards of the land are the ones out there trying to preserve it for their grandchildren.”