May. 01/19 Articles Print Page

Jakeb and Tanya Meyer own Meyer Cattle, Inc., a cattle and irrigated hay farm near Welling, AB. They also operate Meyerco LTD, a construction management company, which oversees commercial and agricultural design and construction projects.

The Meyer family has recently expanded their farming operation by purchasing adjacent lands; they were able to expand and grow using a lending program offered by AFSC.

“A family member told us about the new program AFSC had,” Meyer said when asked how he heard about AFSC’s lending program and decided contact AFSC.

And once he knocked on AFSC’s door to discuss the loan, he said he was particularly impressed with the conditions of the “Next Generation Loan Program”, launched in 2018.

The Next Generation Loan Program provides eligible new entrants and young agricultural producers under the age of 40 with a consistent source of fixed-rate long-term financing.

Meyer said the decision to go and sit down with AFSC to take the loan turned out to be a good one.

“We saw it as an opportunity to grow and remain flexible,” he said of the convenient conditions and terms of the loan.

“It is very difficult today to get into the farming industry, the price of land makes its very tough. But there is opportunity out there. It is nice to see that finance companies like AFSC realize that a young producer or new entrant may need some incentive to help them to get started or to expand when opportunity rises,” Meyer stated.

“It went very well,” he added referring to the process of application and the approval of the loan.

“The account representative we talked to was very professional and straightforward, he was easy to communicate with.”

Todd Peterson, lending specialist at AFSC’s Lethbridge branch is the account representative who worked on Meyer’s loan application.

“Jakeb has used other AFSC products such as WLPIP, so it was nice to have him approach us about our lending products,” said Peterson.

“Tanya has been a past AFSC borrower, so we are happy to see her back again on our lending side.

“This loan will enable their operation to grow and add some more irrigated acres so they can more easily meet their own feeding needs but also allow for more income from sales of excess hay production.”

Peterson praised Meyer’s qualities as a young and promising farmer.

“Jakeb is quite knowledgeable and has been very involved in his industry, having served as an Alberta Beef Producers delegate,” Peterson added.

“He is young and ambitious and continues to expand his operation. We are excited to have both Jakeb and Tanya as borrowers with AFSC.”

Asked whether he would consider coming back to AFSC for a loan to grow his business, “Yes, I probably will,” Meyer concluded.