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In a November 13, 2017, interview with Successful Farming, Mark Jensen, then the new president and CEO of Farm Credit Services of America (FCSA) and Frontier Farm Credit, expressed long-term optimism about U.S. agriculture while warning that near-term farm finances would depend on prices, yields, costs, and trade. His comments—including a corn-price forecast—describe his outlook at the time, not current market conditions.
Why was Mark Jensen optimistic about agriculture?
Jensen’s optimism was long-term and conditional. He pointed to the potential for technology to help producers use farm data to improve yields and profit margins, and to worldwide demand for protein and the United States’ ability to supply it. He also emphasized the importance of trade routes to the livestock outlook. These were Jensen’s views in the 2017 interview, not an independent assessment of current markets.
He summed up his view of U.S. agriculture this way: “The positioning of U.S. agriculture long-term is still favorable and there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic.”
What did he predict for the farm economy and commodity prices?
Asked where he saw the farm economy heading, Jensen did not expect a quick commodity-price recovery. In the 2017 interview, he said prices could remain near the levels at that time for the next three years, absent an unforeseen supply or demand shock. He gave a corn range of $3.50 to $4.25 as his forecast from that 2017 vantage point. It is a historical projection, not a current price estimate or guidance.
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Jensen cited trade issues and the upcoming Farm Bill as uncertainties. His interview-era view was that farm finances would remain uneven: yields, cash flow, balance sheets, and costs could produce very different outcomes from one place or operation to another.
How did yields and costs affect his advice to farmers?
Jensen described sharply contrasting crop results: very high yields in parts of Nebraska and near-total crop losses in parts of central South Dakota after drought. The contrast illustrated why a broad commodity outlook could not predict an individual farm’s financial position.
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His practical advice was to understand expenses and manage for margins as well as yields. As he put it, “It’s always important to maximize yield, but it’s even more important to maximize margin.” Strong production alone does not determine profitability if costs or cash flow are unfavorable.
What trends did he see in livestock and farm technology?
Livestock and protein demand
Jensen was optimistic about long-term growth in worldwide protein consumption and the U.S. role in supplying it. He saw trade routes as important to that opportunity. This was a long-term perspective, not a claim that every livestock producer or market would benefit equally.
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Farm data and precision agriculture
Jensen said equipment on combines was collecting more information and that precision agriculture was advancing quickly. He saw farm data as a potential tool for improving yields and margins and preparing for volatility. “There’s clearly a transformation starting to occur on the use of data.” The interview reports his view; it does not independently measure the technology’s effects or establish particular equipment as a solution.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What experience shaped Jensen’s perspective?
Jensen grew up on a small farm near Avoca, Nebraska. In the interview, he said his family milked 60 to 70 cows and raised corn, soybeans, wheat, milo, and hogs. He earned an agricultural economics degree from the University of Nebraska and joined FCSA as a loan officer in 1992.
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What did he say about agricultural lending?
Jensen said agricultural lending was becoming more forward-looking, with increased attention to what might happen rather than relying only on past delinquency and credit-quality trends. As CEO, he said FCSA would need to adapt as agriculture changed and continue lending through industry cycles.
He also offered two figures about the sector and FCSA’s portfolio in the interview: he said about 75% of FCSA’s real estate portfolio was under fixed rates, and characterized the sector as entering the cycle with about half the debt level, on a percentage basis, compared with the 1980s. These are Jensen’s 2017 statements; the interview does not provide an underlying dataset or establish present-day figures.
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What is the interview’s scope?
The interview was conducted by Betsy Freese and published by Successful Farming on November 13, 2017. Its closing note described FCSAmerica as serving farmers, ranchers, agribusinesses, and rural residents in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming, and Frontier Farm Credit as serving eastern Kansas. That is the article’s 2017 description, not confirmation of current service areas. The interview also does not establish who currently leads FCSA or provide a current farm-market outlook.
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