• Home
  • Education
  • News and Resources
  • Advocacy
  • Associate Members
  • Contact
  • Click to open the search input field Click to open the search input field Search
  • Menu Menu
News
Advocacy, Community, News

From the Fields: Fall Transitions

Forest trail

By Steven Thomas, BMO

Transitioning from summer to fall brings with it the excitement of the fall sports seasons. Friday night football, volleyball games, and cross country meets. A new quarterback in Green Bay. New leaders for Wisconsin Badger Football. New schools, new classes, new students, and new routines for parents, children, and teachers as they get back to school.

Transition is the name of the game for our household as my wife and I prepare for empty nesting. It certainly feels strange after 10 years of having an Onalaska High School student in our household. Our oldest has entered his third year in the financial training program with Ecolab in Houston, TX. Our middle child graduated UW–Madison and has transitioned to working on her Masters at Winona State for Athletic Training. Our youngest heads to the collegiate ranks to study Sports Psychology and has been aggressively working on preparing for the UW–La Crosse Track and Field team. We are excited about the career advancement and experiences the future holds for them.

Fall also presents expectations for harvest and transitioning from the growing season to harvest push. Drought conditions have persisted across the Midwest in varying degrees. In my travels from western Iowa, southern Minnesota, and southern Wisconsin corn, soybean, and alfalfa fields look to be in pretty good condition with fourth crop hay giving more substantial yields than many second and third cuttings. Most of the wheat is harvested. Pollination for corn appears to have been successful with many getting prepared for corn silage harvest. It is advisable to be checking moistures regularly as drought stressed corn looks to be drying down and nearing harvest targets. Weather conditions in late August and early September with temps approaching triple digits will certainly accelerate harvest timing.

For those of us who like to eat, the U.S. Agriculture industry will be transitioning this year as our elected officials are in negotiations toward the development of the new 2023 Farm Bill. The new rendition is due on September 30. Wisconsin 3rd District Congressman Derrick Van Orden hosted a listening session last week in La Crosse with U.S. House of Representatives Ag Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson and Sen. Ron Johnson fielding questions and listening to comments from representatives of the agricultural community. Agriculture is the number one industry in 49 of 50 states, despite having an ever-diminishing number of producers actively involved in production. Hawaii is the only state where ag is not number one due to their tourism industry. Rep. Van Orden expressed that agriculture and food security are key to national security and that discussions on the new farm bill are critical in this legislative session.

Over 300 people attended and those offering comments expressed questions and thoughts on a wide variety of topics. Primary areas of interest included milk pricing and revisions to the milk marketing orders and producer price differentials. Dairy Margin Coverage and Crop insurance programs were mentioned with Chairman Thompson expressing continued support for the funding and potential expansion of these successful programs

Negotiation on trade agreements were raised with Mexico, Canada, and China being major trading partners. The war in Ukraine was mentioned for the world and national impact. Proposition 12 and its potential impact on interstate trade. Border policy and related impacts on the labor force. Other topics included biofuels, organic certification standards, foreign land ownership, autonomous agriculture, dairy supply management, cannabis regulations, conservation programs, and farm ownership transitions.

Thompson, Van Orden, and the rest of the Ag Committee will be working to develop a bipartisan bill supporting our number one industry. They are continuing to collect verbal and written comments. If you have feedback, I encourage you to reach out to your state or U.S. representatives or Rep. Van Orden at 202-225-5506.

For this ag transition, Chairman Thompson expressed appreciation for everyone attending and quipped that “if you are not at the table, you are on the menu.” He welcomed the input received and is certainly a champion for agriculture at the federal level.

Make your voice heard and enjoy your transitions this fall.

Thomas is vice president – commercial relationship manager at BMO in Onalaska. Thomas also serves as a member of the 2023–2024 WBA Agricultural Bankers Section Board of Directors.

Photo courtesy of Christy Besonen, East Wisconsin Savings Bank

Print 🖨
August 30, 2023/by Hannah Flanders
Tags: Ag Banking, Agricultural Banking, Agriculture
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on X
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Share on Vk
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Besonen_Fall-Walk_Highcliff-Park_October-scaled.jpg 1707 2560 Hannah Flanders https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Wisconsin-Bankers-Association-logo.svg Hannah Flanders2023-08-30 10:27:502023-09-06 08:47:03From the Fields: Fall Transitions
You might also like
Man taking notes USDA’s New Hemp Program and What it Means for Wisconsin
Herd of cows in a large meadow at dawn From the Fields: A Rare Breed
WBA Wisconsin Economic Report banner Leading with Optimism Through Challenge
Vieau and Endres on Farm Supporting Wisconsin Farmer Resilience Through Challenging Times
From the Fields: Caring Beyond “Financial” Health
Amish Open Horse and Buggy with 2 Amish Adults in it trotting down the Hill on a Sunny Day Serving Amish and Mennonite Communities in Rural Wisconsin
Calculator and hundred dollar bills sitting on pile of wheat grain 2021 Is Looking up for Farmers, Ag Bankers
Man taking notes From The Fields: Have a Plan
Search Search

Categories

  • Advocacy
  • Community
  • Compliance
  • Credit Unions
  • Education
  • Member News
  • News
  • Products
  • Resources
  • Uncategorized

Recent Posts

  • SNBT Wraps Up Successful Drive as Part of Power of Community Initiative
  • Unity Bank: Celebrating Our 2025 Bankers of the Year
  • Executive Letter: WBA Advocacy Pays Off as the Trigger Lead Bill and ACRE Advance
  • North Shore Bank New West De Pere Branch to Open June 23
  • One Community Bank Announces 2025 Scholarship Recipients

Archives

  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • November 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • June 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • January 2018
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • August 2016
Wisconsin Bankers Association logo
  • About
  • Community
  • Subsidiaries
  • Staff

questions@wisbank.com

608-441-1200

4721 S Biltmore Ln.
Madison, WI 53718

Get our Newsletter!
Subscribe

© 2025 Wisconsin Bankers Association. All rights reserved. | Website Design by Bizzy Bizzy
Link to: Executive Letter: Check Fraud Resources Link to: Executive Letter: Check Fraud Resources Executive Letter: Check Fraud ResourcesPerson writing check Link to: September/October 2023 Wisconsin Banker Link to: September/October 2023 Wisconsin Banker September/October 2023 Wisconsin Banker
Scroll to top Scroll to top Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

OKLearn more×

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Terms of Use
Accept settingsHide notification only

Subscribe

* indicates required








Membership