Two years ago, Northwest Farm Credit Services and Farm Credit West merged to create AgWest Farm Credit.

In the past year, AgWest’s assets have grown from $29 billion to more than $32 billion.

AgWest has 59 locations across seven Western states, including Alaska. Oregon is home to 11 of them.

The agricultural lending cooperative boasts more than a century of experience serving farmers, ranchers, timber harvesters and aquatic producers throughout the West.

AgWest aims to return a portion of its profits to eligible customer-members, reducing their total borrowing costs. Last year AgWest returned $387 million to its customers in the form of patronage dividends.

“We as an organization acknowledge that things are a little harder right now,” said Todd Hatley, AgWest relationship manager posted in Salem. “Input prices are up, and commodity prices are down. In this area we’ve gone through some challenging times with grass seed and hazelnuts, but we really strive to continue to be even-handed and work with our customers to help them out as best as we can, knowing that the economy cycles and that better times are coming.

“The hazelnut market is looking better for this year, with an opportunity to see profit in the orchards, and the nursery industry is still very strong, which is encouraging,” Hatley said. “We’re hoping to see some grass seed move, which will help relieve some pressure on these local farms.”

Hatley works with about 50 different farms in the Willamette Valley, including nurseries, grass seed growers, blueberry growers and some processors, too.

He visits farmers to see how the crops look and to familiarize himself with their operations to best serve each one.

“We try hard to be a trusted resource to our customers by providing timely and meaningful feedback on how their financial position looks and areas for potential improvement,” Hatley said. “When prices are down, crop insurance is a great opportunity to help mitigate the risk, and we are the largest provider of crop insurance in the West.”

AgWest is also serious about giving back to the communities it serves. In 2024, AgWest donated over $1.19 million in support of organizations and individuals across Oregon. Of that, its Local Advisory Committees guided the allocation of $569,104.

“These are groups of local customer-members we meet with quarterly to give an update on AgWest’s performance and to keep a grass-roots pulse on what’s happening in our local ag communities,” Hatley said. “They can help determine where our charitable donations will best make a difference.”

This year, AgWest awarded $100,000 to Corban University in Salem toward the creation of a soil samples laboratory.

It awarded another $100,000 to Sweet Home High School’s FFA program, enabling them to procure their own vehicle to transport FFA students to events.

AgWest recently donated $75,000 toward the Oregon Wildland Fire Relief fund via the Oregon Cattleman’s Association to help with wildfire relief in Eastern Oregon.

Once again, AgWest is enabling area FFA classes to attend the show by funding substitute teachers and transportation. It also donated its booth space to the Oregon Ag Prayer Breakfast.