FCA News Release 04-07

News Release

Farm Credit Administration
1501 Farm Credit Drive
McLean, Virginia 22102-5090

For Immediate Release
NR-04-07 (05-24-04)
Contact: Hal C. DeCell III or Dana Wyckoff, (703) 883-4056
E-mail: info-line@fca.gov
Web site: http://www.fca.gov

President Bush Designates Nancy C. Pellett as Chairman and CEO of Farm Credit Administration

McLEAN, Va., May 24, 2004 — On May 22, 2004, President George W. Bush designated Nancy C. Pellett as Chairman and CEO of the Farm Credit Administration (FCA). Ms. Pellett has served as a member of the FCA Board and concurrently as a member of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation Board since her appointment to the position by President Bush in November 2002. Her term on the Board will expire in May 2008. She succeeds Michael M. Reyna, who has served as Chairman and CEO since January 2000.

As Chairman of the FCA, Ms. Pellett will be responsible for policy making, adopting regulations, and overseeing the examination and regulation of the institutions that comprise the Farm Credit System (System), which has $94.3 billion in loans outstanding to U.S. farmers, ranchers, and their cooperatives.

Mr. Reyna will remain as a member of the Board pending future action by the President and the U.S. Senate. Douglas L. “Doug” Flory, who was appointed by President Bush in August 2002, serves as the second member of the Board.

Ms. Pellett brings to her position extensive experience in production agriculture and agribusiness. In partnership with her husband, she has managed a family-owned cattle farm since 1966, and has been vice president and secretary of Prairie Hills, Ltd., a feedlot, cow-calf, and row crop operation in Atlantic, Iowa, since 1979. She was president and treasurer of Fredrechsen Farms, Ltd., a family-owned swine and row crop operation in Walnut, Iowa, for more than 20 years.

A long-time beef industry leader, Ms. Pellett has held state and national leadership positions in cattlemen’s industry organizations. As a member of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, she has served as the Chairman of the Check-Off Division, Chairman of the Consumer Marketing Group, and most recently as a member of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board. She has also been President of the Iowa Beef Industry Council.

She is a partner in Premium Quality Foods, Inc., based in Red Oak, Iowa, which markets branded fresh beef and pre-cooked beef entrees. Previously she served as president and consumer marketing director for the company.

Ms. Pellett served a six-year term as a member of the Board of Regents for the State of Iowa, which oversees the three state universities, as well as the University of Iowa Hospital and its affiliated clinics. She was also selected as a member of the Governor’s Student Aid Commission.

Ms. Pellett is currently on the Iowa State University (ISU) Foundation Board of Governors and has been a member of the Advisory Committees for the College of Agriculture and the College of Family and Consumer Sciences. She is past President of the ISU Alumni Association, and was awarded the Alumni Medal in 1987.

Dedicated to the future of agriculture, she has worked with 4-H and FFA at the local and state levels, and has served on the Iowa 4-H Foundation Board. Ms. Pellett is a founding member of the 4-H/FFA “Sale of Champions” Committee for the Iowa State Fair.

A native of Walnut, Iowa, she holds a B.S. from Iowa State University at Ames. She and her husband have four children. Together with a son and daughter-in-law, Ms. Pellett and her husband operate a fifth generation family farm in Atlantic, Iowa. The Pellett family received the “Friends of Youth Award” in 2000 from the Knights of AkSarBen, a foundation that supports education, youth programs, and rural development in Nebraska and western Iowa. The family was honored as the “Family of the Year” by Iowa State University in 1997.

The Farm Credit Administration is a bipartisan, independent regulatory agency. Members of the Board are responsible for regulation and examination of the banks, associations and related entities that collectively comprise what is known as the Farm Credit System, including the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac). Members of the Board also are responsible for protecting the interests of the public and those who borrow from Farm Credit institutions or invest in Farm Credit securities. Initially created by Executive Order of the President in 1933, the agency now derives its powers and authorities from the Farm Credit Act of 1971, as amended.

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The Farm Credit Administration is the safety and soundness regulator of the Farm Credit System. FCA charters, regulates, and examines the 110 banks, associations, and service corporations of the System. System institutions make loans to agricultural producers and their cooperatives nationwide. Members of the FCA Board are Nancy C. Pellett, Chairman and CEO, Douglas L. “Doug” Flory, and Michael M. Reyna.

Note: FCA news releases are available on the Internet. Access the FCA Home Page on the World Wide Web at www.fca.gov.

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