Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp (AGM) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Farmer Mac third-quarter 2025 earnings result conference call. (Operator Instructions) This call is being recorded on November 3, 2025.

女士們、先生們，下午好，歡迎參加 Farmer Mac 2025 年第三季收益業績電話會議。（操作員指示）本次通話於 2025 年 11 月 3 日錄音。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Jalpa Nazareth. Please go ahead.

現在我將把會議交給 Jalpa Nazareth。請繼續。

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us for our third-quarter 2025 earnings conference call. I'm Jalpa Nazareth, Senior Director of Investor Relations and Finance Strategy here at Farmer Mac.

下午好，感謝各位參加我們2025年第三季財報電話會議。我是 Jalpa Nazareth，Farmer Mac 公司的投資者關係和財務策略高級總監。

As we begin, please note that the information provided during this call may contain forward-looking statements about the company's business, strategies, and prospects, which are based on management's current expectations and assumptions. These statements are not a guarantee of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those.

首先，請注意，本次電話會議中提供的資訊可能包含有關公司業務、策略和前景的前瞻性陳述，這些陳述是基於管理層目前的預期和假設。這些聲明並非對未來業績的保證，並且存在風險和不確定性，可能導致我們的實際結果與這些聲明有重大差異。

Please refer to Farmer Mac's 2024 annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent SEC filings posted on Farmer Mac's website, farmermac.com, under the Financial Information portion of the Investors section for a full discussion of the company's risk factors. On today's call, we will also be discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures. Disclosures and reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures can be found in the most recent Form 10-Q and earnings release posted on Farmer Mac's website.

有關公司風險因素的完整討論，請參閱 Farmer Mac 公司 2024 年的 10-K 表格年度報告以及隨後在 Farmer Mac 公司網站 farmermac.com 的“投資者”部分的“財務資訊”下發布的 SEC 文件。在今天的電話會議上，我們還將討論一些非GAAP財務指標。有關這些非GAAP指標的揭露和調整，請參閱Farmer Mac網站上發布的最新10-Q表格和收益報告。

Today, I'm joined by our Chief Executive Officer, Brad Nordholm, who will lead our discussion on third-quarter 2025 results; and our President and Chief Operating Officer, Zach Carpenter, who will discuss customer and market developments. Select members of our management team will also be joining us for the question-and-answer period.

今天，我們的執行長布拉德·諾德霍爾姆將帶領我們討論 2025 年第三季業績；我們的總裁兼營運長扎克·卡彭特將討論客戶和市場發展。我們管理團隊的部分成員也將參加問答環節。

At this time, I'll turn the call over to CEO, Brad Nordholm. Brad?

現在，我將把電話轉交給執行長布拉德·諾德霍爾姆。布拉德？

Thank you, Jalpa. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. We delivered exceptional third-quarter 2025 results, achieving yet another quarter of record net effective spread and core earnings. We surpassed $31 billion in outstanding business volume and strengthened our already robust capital base through a very successful preferred stock issuance, further supporting our long-term growth objectives and providing a buffer against market volatility.

謝謝你，賈爾帕。各位下午好，感謝各位的參與。我們取得了2025年第三季優異的業績，再次實現了淨有效利差和核心收益創歷史新高。我們未償付業務量超過 310 億美元，並透過非常成功的優先股發行，進一步鞏固了我們原本就十分雄厚的資本基礎，從而進一步支持了我們的長期增長目標，並為抵禦市場波動提供了緩衝。

Our total portfolio is well diversified by both commodity and geography, and we remain confident in the overall health of our portfolio as evidenced by our continued strong asset quality metrics and I might add, our day in, day out market information we receive from being active in every commodity in every region of the United States.

我們的整體投資組合在商品和地理方面都實現了良好的多元化，我們對投資組合的整體健康狀況充滿信心，這體現在我們持續強勁的資產品質指標上，而且我還要補充一點，我們每天都能從活躍於美國各個地區的每種商品中獲得市場資訊。

It's a real advantage. It is the consistency of our growth and financial results over the last few years and my expectations that that will continue that has given me the confidence to announce my anticipated retirement in March 2027, and for the Board of Farmer Mac to name Zach as President and Chief Operating Officer and as my successor upon my retirement.

這是一個真正的優勢。過去幾年我們持續成長和財務業績，以及我對這種成長和業績將繼續保持的預期，讓我有信心宣布我將於 2027 年 3 月退休，並讓 Farmer Mac 董事會任命 Zach 為總裁兼首席營運官，並在我退休後接任我的職位。

Zach has been instrumental in diversifying our loan portfolio into newer lines of business while extending our reach to more corners of rural America by developing strong strategic partnerships and relationships with both existing and new customers. I will continue to support Zach as he builds on Farmer Mac's trajectory of mission-focused growth, operational resilience, and delivery of consistent financial results.

Zach 在將我們的貸款組合多元化到新的業務領域，同時透過與現有客戶和新客戶建立牢固的策略夥伴關係，將我們的業務拓展到美國農村的更多角落方面發揮了重要作用。我將繼續支持 Zach，讓他繼續帶領 Farmer Mac 朝著以使命為中心的成長、營運韌性和持續的財務表現邁進。

So turning to those results, ee ended the quarter with a record net effective spread of $97.8 million and core earnings of $49.6 million. Year to date, net effective spread and core earnings are $287 million or $281 million and $143 million, respectively, reflecting double-digit, year-over-year growth. The growth in spreads was driven by higher average loan balances and the continuing shift to higher spread business, which has been a key driver of the net effective spread increase over the past several years.

因此，回到這些業績，ee 以創紀錄的淨有效利差 9,780 萬美元和核心收益 4,960 萬美元結束了本季。今年迄今為止，淨有效利差和核心收益分別為 2.87 億美元或 2.81 億美元和 1.43 億美元，反映了兩位數的同比增長。利差成長的驅動因素是平均貸款餘額增加以及向高利差業務的持續轉變，而這正是過去幾年淨有效利差成長的關鍵驅動因素。

Our strategy-driven decision to diversify our loan portfolio into newer lines of business that play to our competitive advantages in intermediate and long-term match-funded and securitized funding, such as renewable energy, broadband infrastructure, and corporate Ag finance, has been a key priority, and that diversification is benefiting us through changing market cycles.

我們採取策略驅動的措施，將貸款組合多元化到能夠發揮我們在中長期配套資金和證券化融資方面競爭優勢的新興業務領域，例如可再生能源、寬頻基礎設施和企業農業融資，這一舉措一直是我們的首要任務，而這種多元化正在幫助我們應對不斷變化的市場週期。

Also contributing to our net effective spread growth is our effective asset liability management and funding execution. The strengthening of our balance sheet through retained earnings growth and preferred stock issuance supports our balance sheet management strategies, which are fundamental to the resilience of our business model, as these strategies enable us to be thoughtful and responsive to changing market conditions.

此外，我們有效的資產負債管理和融資執行也促進了我們的淨有效利差成長。透過留存收益成長和優先股發行來加強我們的資產負債表，這為我們的資產負債表管理策略提供了支持，而這些策略對於我們商業模式的韌性至關重要，因為這些策略使我們能夠深思熟慮地應對不斷變化的市場狀況。

Also reflected in our core earnings results this quarter is the purchase of $24.2 million of renewable energy investment tax credits, resulting in a $1.5 million benefit. We will continue to actively evaluate these types of renewable energy credit opportunities in the next few quarters, as we have consistent top marginal corporate tax liability and remain a significant participant in the renewable energy project finance market, again, giving us unique insights and some competitive advantages.

本季我們的核心獲利業績也反映了我們購買了價值 2,420 萬美元的再生能源投資稅收抵免，從而獲得了 150 萬美元的收益。在接下來的幾個季度裡，我們將繼續積極評估這些類型的可再生能源信貸機會，因為我們擁有持續最高的邊際企業所得稅負債，並且仍然是可再生能源專案融資市場的重要參與者，這再次為我們帶來了獨特的見解和一些競爭優勢。

Partially offsetting the growth in net effective spread in the third quarter was an increase in operating expenses related to headcount, technology investment, and higher transaction-related legal expenses. The majority of additions to headcounts were related to resources needed to support increased business volumes, especially in higher spread businesses, as well as new technology and operational-efficient project implementation.

第三季淨有效利差的成長部分被與人員編制、技術投資和更高的交易相關法律費用相關的營運支出增加所抵消。大部分新增員工與支援業務量成長所需的資源有關，尤其是在業務規模較大的產業，以及新技術和營運效率更高的專案實施。

We maintain our disciplined approach to expense management by proactively monitoring and managing expense growth against income revenue streams. Another way of putting it is our efficiency ratio. We'll continue to assess appropriate investments in our operational and technology platforms, resources to support future growth and scalability, our ability to innovate and drive profitability while maintaining a disciplined efficiency ratio within our long-term target average of 30%.

我們堅持嚴格的費用管理方法，積極監控和管理費用成長與收入流之間的關係。換句話說，就是我們的效率比率。我們將繼續評估對營運和技術平台、支持未來成長和規模化的資源、創新能力以及盈利能力的適當投資，同時保持30%的長期平均效率比率。

In terms of credit expense, several factors contributed to the $7.4 million net provision to the total allowance for the quarter. Specifically, the provision expense this quarter reflects, first, an increased loss estimate on certain Ag storage and processing broadband substandard assets; second, a handful of specific properties affected by groundwater regulation in California; and third, volume growth in both agricultural finance and infrastructure finance lines of business.

就信貸支出而言，有幾個因素導致本季淨撥備總額達到 740 萬美元。具體而言，本季度撥備支出反映了以下幾點：第一，某些農業倉儲和加工寬頻不合格資產的損失估計增加；第二，受加州地下水監管影響的少數特定資產；第三，農業金融和基礎設施融資業務線的規模增長。

Offsetting credit expense this quarter was the recovery of $2.2 million, primarily related to a single permanent planting loan that was previously charged off in the second quarter of 2025. We also recorded during the quarter a $4.4 million charge-off related to three different loans. As we've mentioned on prior calls, our newer segments, which have grown significantly over the last several years, carry different risk weights, hence requiring increased provision expense during this period's growth while generating a significantly higher net effective spread.

本季抵銷信貸支出的是 220 萬美元的收回款項，主要與 2025 年第二季之前註銷的一筆永久性種植貸款有關。本季我們也記錄了與三筆不同貸款相關的 440 萬美元的沖銷。正如我們在先前的電話會議中所提到的，我們較新的業務部門在過去幾年中實現了顯著增長，這些板塊的風險權重不同，因此在這一增長時期需要增加撥備支出，同時產生更高的淨有效利差。

Our provision expense reflects model-based CECL changes or charges, rather, and are part of our normal and ordinary course of business. We will continue to see quarterly adjustments, additions, and releases as our portfolios grow and mature.

我們的準備金支出反映了基於​​模型的 CECL 變更或費用，而是我們正常業務流程的一部分。隨著我們的投資組合不斷增長和成熟，我們將繼續看到季度調整、新增和釋放。

As of September 30, the total allowance for losses was $37.2 million, or 12 basis points of our total outstanding business volume. We believe that our total portfolio is well diversified by industry, geography, and segments, and that we're well positioned given our strong levels of capital.

截至 9 月 30 日，損失準備金總額為 3,720 萬美元，相當於我們未結清業務總額的 12 個基點。我們相信，我們的整體投資組合在產業、地理和細分領域都實現了良好的多元化，並且憑藉我們雄厚的資本實力，我們處於有利地位。

The fundamentals of our underwriting and risk analytics enable us to continue to effectively navigate the current volatility and uncertainty in the agricultural cycle. While credit losses are inherent in lending, we believe that any losses in the current credit cycle will be moderated by the strength and diversity of our overall portfolio and our allowances.

我們承保和風險分析的基本原理使我們能夠繼續有效地應對當前農業週期中的波動和不確定性。雖然信貸損失是貸款過程中不可避免的，但我們相信，當前信貸週期中的任何損失都將因我們整體投資組合的實力和多樣性以及我們的撥備而得到緩解。

From a credit perspective, portfolio quality remained stable during the third quarter despite a modest uptick in 90-day delinquencies, which reflects the seasonal impact of the July 1 payment date on almost all of our loans in the Farm & Ranch segment and not any identifiable trend. Despite heightened volatility and market uncertainty, our prudent underwriting approach, emphasizing the dual assessment of loan-to-value and cash flow metrics, positions us well to withstand market cycles.

從信貸角度來看，儘管 90 天逾期貸款略有上升，但第三季投資組合品質保持穩定。這反映了 7 月 1 日付款日對我們農場和牧場部門幾乎所有貸款的季節性影響，而不是任何可識別的趨勢。儘管市場波動加劇且充滿不確定性，但我們審慎的承銷方式，強調對貸款價值比和現金流指標的雙重評估，使我們能夠很好地抵禦市場週期。

To date, we have not seen any significant effects on our portfolio related to political developments, government actions, including the current shutdown, or changes in policy. We'll continue to closely monitor industry and credit conditions as new government policies are implemented.

到目前為止，我們尚未看到政治發展、政府行為（包括目前的政府停擺）或政策變化對我們的投資組合有任何重大影響。我們將繼續密切關注產業和信貸狀況，並密切關注政府新政策的實施情況。

Farmer Mac's core capital increased by $131 million to $1.7 billion as of September 30, exceeding our statutory requirement by $723 million or 75%. The sequential increase reflects the successful issuance of $100 million of Series H preferred stock in August. The addition of preferred capital, together with our strong earnings, improved our Tier 1 capital ratio to 13.9% this quarter from 13.6% last quarter despite the strong growth in assets. The issuance effectively allowed us to strengthen our Tier 1 capital position and also allowed us to demonstrate strong access to low-cost preferred stock capital.

截至 9 月 30 日，Farmer Mac 的核心資本增加了 1.31 億美元，達到 17 億美元，比法定要求高出 7.23 億美元，即 75%。此次環比成長反映了8月成功發行1億美元的H系列優先股。儘管資產強勁成長，但由於優先股的增加以及我們強勁的獲利能力，本季我們的一級資本充足率從上季的 13.6% 提高到 13.9%。這次發行有效地增強了我們的一級資本實力，同時也展現了我們獲得低成本優先股資本的強大能力。

Looking ahead, we will continue to evaluate all the capital management tools we have available to achieve our goal of optimizing our overall capital position through organic capital generation and securitization opportunities, especially as we continue to grow our book of business in more accretive segments that will require an incrementally greater amount of capital. Our strong capital position has enabled us to grow and diversify revenue streams, remain resilient in volatile credit environments, and continue to offer competitively priced liquidity to our customers and their borrowers even in challenging times.

展望未來，我們將繼續評估所有可用的資本管理工具，以實現透過內生資本創造和證券化機會優化整體資本狀況的目標，尤其是在我們繼續在更具增值潛力的領域擴大業務規模，而這些領域將需要越來越多的資本的情況下。我們雄厚的資本實力使我們能夠發展和多元化收入來源，在波動的信貸環境中保持韌性，即使在充滿挑戰的時期，也能繼續為我們的客戶及其借款人提供具有競爭力的流動性價格。

We're working toward a second prime transaction in the fourth quarter of 2025, which will be similar to the deal earlier this year. The securitization program remains an important strategic initiative for Farmer Mac as it allows us to enhance and optimize the balance sheet by efficient deployment of capital and also enable our growth strategy by targeting new asset opportunities. We're very pleased with the tremendous support we've seen from our stakeholders for this program, and we look forward to exploring alternatives to risk transfer structures that will allow us to expand our offerings while serving as another source of capital management.

我們正在努力爭取在 2025 年第四季完成第二筆優質交易，這筆交易將與今年稍早的交易類似。證券化計畫仍然是 Farmer Mac 的重要策略舉措，因為它使我們能夠透過有效部署資本來增強和優化資產負債表，並透過瞄準新的資產機會來實現我們的成長策略。我們非常高興看到利害關係人對該計劃給予了巨大的支持，我們期待探索風險轉移結構的替代方案，這將使我們能夠擴大產品和服務範圍，同時作為另一種資本管理來源。

Lastly, I'm pleased to share that subsequent to quarter-end, Farmer Mac has repurchased approximately 30,000 shares of Class C common stock for a total amount of about $5 million. We have several tools we leverage to return capital to shareholders, including dividends and buybacks, ensuring any action taken is both sustainable and value accretive. This balanced approach allows us to invest in growth, maintain financial resilience, and deliver returns, all while remaining agile in a dynamic market environment.

最後，我很高興地宣布，在季度末之後，Farmer Mac 已回購了約 30,000 股 C 類普通股，總金額約為 500 萬美元。我們利用多種工具向股東返還資本，包括分紅和股票回購，以確保採取的任何行動都是可持續的，並且能夠增值。這種平衡的方法使我們能夠在動態的市場環境中保持靈活，同時投資於成長，保持財務韌性，並獲得回報。

So at this time, I'd like to turn over to Zach Carpenter, our President and Chief Operating Officer, to discuss our customers and market developments in more detail. Zach?

所以現在，我想把麥克風交給我們的總裁兼營運長扎克·卡彭特，讓他更詳細地討論一下我們的客戶和市場發展。扎克？

Thanks, Brad. I want to first start by expressing my deep gratitude to you and our Board of Directors for their trust and confidence in appointing me as President and Chief Operating Officer of Farmer Mac. It is truly an honor to step into this role and to build on an incredible foundation that Brad and the team have established.

謝謝你，布拉德。首先，我要向您和董事會表達我深深的謝意，感謝你們的信任和信心，任命我為 Farmer Mac 的總裁兼營運長。能夠擔任這個職務，並在布拉德和他的團隊所建立的堅實基礎上繼續發展，我深感榮幸。

What makes this moment especially meaningful is the opportunity to lead alongside such an extraordinary team here at Farmer Mac. Across the organization, I see a shared drive to innovate, serve with purpose, and never settle for average. This passionate, mission-focused culture at Farmer Mac is what gives me tremendous confidence in our future.

讓這一刻顯得格外有意義的是，有機會與 Farmer Mac 這樣傑出的團隊一起領導。在整個組織中，我看到了一種共同的動力，那就是創新、以目標為導向的服務，以及永不滿足於平庸。Farmer Mac 這種充滿熱情、以使命為導向的企業文化，讓我對我們的未來充滿信心。

Our team delivered another solid quarter of outstanding business volume growth. We achieved $500 million of net new business volume, resulting in total outstanding business volume of $31.1 billion as of quarter end.

我們的團隊又一個季度實現了穩健的業務量成長。我們實現了 5 億美元的淨新增業務量，截至季末，未結業務總量達 311 億美元。

The growth in our portfolio was primarily driven by the infrastructure finance line of business, which grew by $600 million this quarter to $11 billion as of quarter end, reflecting continued strong interest in investment in data centers, broadband expansion, as well as the construction and completion of renewable energy projects, coupled with the overall need for significant energy generation and transmission capacity for rural America.

我們投資組合的成長主要得益於基礎設施融資業務，該業務本季增長了 6 億美元，截至季度末達到 110 億美元，這反映出市場對數據中心、寬頻擴展以及可再生能源項目的建設和竣工的投資持續強勁，同時也反映了美國農村地區對大量能源生產和輸送能力的總體需求。

Serving agriculture businesses and providing liquidity to enhance and enable rural infrastructure are both critical to our mission of driving economic opportunity to rural America. This proactive business diversification continues to pay dividends, which we expect to continue going forward, and it has also expanded our commitment to rural communities as this liquidity is geographically aligned with our core mission across all our segments.

為農業企業提供服務，並為增強和促進農村基礎設施建設提供流動性，對於我們為美國農村地區帶來經濟機會的使命而言，都至關重要。這種積極主動的業務多元化持續帶來回報，我們預計未來將繼續如此，而這種多元化也擴大了我們對農村社區的承諾，因為這種流動性在地域上與我們所有業務部門的核心使命相一致。

Volume in our Renewable Energy segment more than doubled from the same period last year to $2.3 billion as of quarter end. This segment has doubled every year since its inception, and we believe the strength of our near-term pipeline supports this continued growth over the next 12 months. Despite increased policy uncertainty across the renewable power investment market, we expect to continue participating in renewable energy transactions for both new projects and refinancing of existing projects, utilizing the same disciplined credit standards.

截至季末，我們再生能源業務的成交量比去年同期成長了一倍多，達到 23 億美元。該業務板塊自成立以來每年都翻一番，我們相信，近期強勁的業務儲備將支撐未來 12 個月的持續成長。儘管再生能源投資市場政策不確定性增加，但我們仍將繼續參與再生能源交易，包括新項目和現有項目的再融資，並採用同樣嚴格的信貸標準。

In addition to the substantial increase in need for new power generation, the tax credit phaseouts for renewable energy generation projects in HR1 will continue to drive near-term growth in this segment. And we believe this will continue over the next 12 months for projects to start construction to meet required milestones to maintain crap tax incentives.

除了對新增發電需求的大幅成長外，HR1 中再生能源發電專案的稅收抵免逐步取消也將繼續推動該領域近期的成長。我們認為，未來 12 個月內，為了維持糟糕的稅收優惠，專案開工需要達到規定的里程碑，這種情況還會持續下去。

Our Broadband Infrastructure segment doubled year over year to $1.3 billion as of quarter end, compared to $600 million in the same period last year. The growth primarily reflects the continued demand for data centers. We anticipate increased financing opportunities in this segment for data center build-outs, given the increasing investment in capacity to support AI, cloud storage, and enterprise digitization, particularly by large hyperscalers. We believe these developments are crucial for rural economic growth and support the historically strong demand for connectivity needs across rural America.

截至季末，我們的寬頻基礎設施業務部門年增一倍，達到 13 億美元，而去年同期為 6 億美元。這一增長主要反映了對資料中心的持續需求。鑑於對支援人工智慧、雲端儲存和企業數位化能力的投資不斷增加，特別是大型超大規模資料中心營運商的投資，我們預計資料中心建置領域的融資機會將會增加。我們認為這些發展對農村經濟成長至關重要，並能滿足美國農村地區歷來強勁的網路連結需求。

Our Power and Utilities segment grew $126 million this quarter, largely due to the strong loan purchase activity supporting the investment needs of rural electric generation, transmission, and distribution cooperatives. Growing business volume in our infrastructure finance segment remains a top priority, and we will continue to focus on strategic investments in these areas to build our expertise and capacity as market opportunities arise.

本季度，我們的電力和公用事業部門成長了 1.26 億美元，這主要得益於強勁的貸款購買活動，以支持農村電力生產、輸送和分配合作社的投資需求。擴大基礎設施融資領域的業務量仍然是我們的首要任務，我們將繼續專注於這些領域的策略性投資，以在市場機會出現時提升我們的專業知識和能力。

Activity this quarter in our $20.1 billion agricultural finance portfolio reflected strong loan purchase growth in our foundational Farm & Ranch segment, offset by scheduled maturities of large AgVantage facilities or bonds. Our Farm & Ranch loan purchase portfolio grew by $285 million in the third quarter, far outpacing scheduled maturities.

本季度，我們201億美元的農業金融投資組合的活動反映了我們基礎農場和牧場部門強勁的貸款購買成長，但被大型AgVantage融資或債券的預定到期所抵消。第三季度，我們的農場和牧場貸款購買組合成長了 2.85 億美元，遠遠超過了預定到期的貸款。

We believe loan purchase growth will continue into the foreseeable future due to ongoing agricultural economic tightening in certain sectors, reflecting commodity price volatility and input inflationary dynamics, the potential for increased tariffs and trade policy changes, as well as general balance sheet management of our community and commercial bank customers, including liquidity needed for farmland equipment purchases by the ultimate farmer borrowers. The Farm & Ranch segment is core to our mission, and we remain committed to bringing our customers products and solutions that provide capital and risk management solutions as well as supporting their borrowers' financial needs.

我們認為，由於某些行業的農業經濟持續緊縮，反映出大宗商品價格波動和投入品通膨動態，以及關稅增加和貿易政策變化的可能性，再加上我們社區和商業銀行客戶的一般資產負債表管理（包括最終農民借款人購買農田設備所需的流動性），貸款購買增長將在可預見的未來繼續，並且農場和牧場業務是我們使命的核心，我們將繼續致力於為客戶提供產品和解決方案，以提供資本和風險管理解決方案，並支持其借款人的財務需求。

While AgVantage securities in both Farm & Ranch and Corporate Ag Finance segments faced large maturities over the last year due to many of our partners pausing capital deployment to navigate the ongoing market uncertainty, there continues to be strong demand for wholesale finance products and solutions. For example, prior to quarter end, we successfully closed a new facility with $4.3 billion of borrowing capacity with a large agricultural finance counterparty, further demonstrating the strength of our relationships and the relative value of our wholesale finance product. We do expect additional funding for this facility in the fourth quarter.

儘管由於許多合作夥伴暫停資本部署以應對持續的市場不確定性，AgVantage 在農場和牧場以及企業農業金融領域的證券在過去一年中面臨大量到期，但對批發金融產品和解決方案的需求依然強勁。例如，在季度末之前，我們成功地與一家大型農業金融交易對手達成了一項新的融資安排，借款額度為 43 億美元，這進一步證明了我們關係的牢固性和我們批發融資產品的相對價值。我們預計第四季將為該設施提供額外資金。

Looking ahead, we will continue to work closely with these counterparties and tactically determine when to refinance maturing securities or provide incremental financing needs based on current market dynamics, as well as the appropriate return on capital thresholds for this product. We remain steadfast in our commitment to deliver a broad spectrum of financial solutions to the agriculture community by working alongside our growing customer base.

展望未來，我們將繼續與這些交易對手密切合作，並根據當前的市場動態以及該產品的適當資本回報率門檻，有策略地決定何時對到期證券進行再融資或提供增量融資需求。我們將繼續堅定不移地致力於與不斷增長的客戶群攜手合作，為農業界提供廣泛的金融解決方案。

Despite this backdrop of broader market uncertainty stemming from factors such as interest rates, regulatory shifts, and trade policy changes, we are confident in our ability to continue to deliver growth and consistent results. Our total portfolio is well diversified by both commodity and geography, and we remain confident in the overall health of our portfolio, as evidenced by our continued strong asset quality metrics.

儘管利率、監管變化和貿易政策變化等因素導致市場整體存在不確定性，但我們有信心繼續實現成長並取得穩定的績效。我們的投資組合在商品種類和地理分佈上都實現了良好的多元化，我們對投資組合的整體健康狀況充滿信心，持續強勁的資產品質指標也證明了這一點。

And with that, Brad, I'll turn it back to you.

那麼，布拉德，現在輪到你了。

Well, thank you, Zach. We delivered yet another record financial result this quarter while fulfilling several important strategic and revenue objectives. We delivered record core earnings, maintained a stable credit profile, reported a core return on equity of 17%, a little bit north of that actually, and we did that while holding our efficiency ratio below our strategic target of 30%.

謝謝你，扎克。本季我們再次取得了創紀錄的財務業績，同時實現了多項重要的策略和收入目標。我們實現了創紀錄的核心收益，保持了穩定的信用狀況，核心股本回報率達到 17%，實際上略高於這個數字，而且我們在將效率比率保持在 30% 的戰略目標以下的同時，也做到了這一點。

We are optimistic about the future, and we believe that we'll continue to be well-positioned to deliver on our multiyear strategy with strong liquidity and capital levels, a diversified mix of business, a highly effective risk management practice, and most importantly, a talented team of dedicated professionals here at Farmer Mac.

我們對未來充滿信心，我們相信憑藉強大的流動性和資本水平、多元化的業務組合、高效的風險管理實踐，以及最重要的，Farmer Mac 擁有一支才華橫溢、敬業的專業團隊，我們將繼續處於有利地位，實現我們的多年戰略。

I'm going to turn to the Q&A period, but just a quick comment before I do, an update on our CFO search. We have interviewed a number of outstanding candidates with strong qualifications and expertise to be the next CFO of Farmer Mac. I've been gratified that Farmer Mac is seen as a very desirable employer and career opportunity for many of these qualified people. And I think it's likely that we're going to get to an announcement within this calendar quarter, the fourth calendar quarter of 2025.

接下來我要進入問答環節，但在那之前，我想簡單提一下我們財務長招募的最新進展。我們已經面試了多位資歷深厚、專業能力出眾的優秀候選人，以遴選 Farmer Mac 的下一任財務長。令我欣慰的是，對於許多合格的人來說，Farmer Mac 被視為一個非常理想的雇主和職業發展機會。我認為我們很可能在本季度，也就是 2025 年第四季度，就會發佈公告。

And now, operator, I'd like to see if we have any questions from anyone on the line today.

現在，接線員，我想看看今天電話線上的聽眾有沒有什麼問題。

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝。女士們、先生們，現在開始問答環節。（操作說明）

Bose George, KBW.

博斯·喬治，KBW。

Hey, everyone, good afternoon. And congrats, Zach, and all the best, Brad, on your retirement. In terms of questions, I just wanted to start with the question on spreads. Can you just talk about the outlook for spreads, just given the expectations for mix and the forward curve, which I guess is the Fed now cutting about three times by next summer?

大家好，下午好。恭喜札克，也祝福布萊德退休一切順利。關於問題，我只想先問一個關於價差的問題。您能否談談利差前景，考慮到對貨幣組合和遠期曲線的預期，我猜聯準會到明年夏天將降息約三次？

Yeah. Thanks, Bose, and nice to have you on today. A couple of comments. I'll let Zach get into the mix of business that impacts our NES or net effective spread. But just I'd like to begin with a reminder that the way we run our asset liability management and our match funding strategy here at Farmer Mac that a cut in interest rates by the Fed should have no impact on the net effective spread here at Farmer Mac.

是的。謝謝 Bose，很高興今天能來。幾點說明。我會讓 Zach 來參與到影響我們 NES 或淨有效價差的業務中來。但首先我想提醒大家，根據 Farmer Mac 的資產負債管理和配套資金策略，聯準會降息不會對 Farmer Mac 的淨有效利差產生任何影響。

We structure our portfolio so that we're neutral to changes in interest rates at the short end or even the long end of the curve. And so if interest rates go down or interest rates go up, as we have demonstrated quarter in, quarter out for a very long period of time, those changes in market interest rates really don't impact Farmer Mac much at all, a couple of basis points here and there.

我們建構投資組合，使其對短期甚至長期利率的變化保持中性。因此，正如我們長期以來每季所證明的那樣，如果利率下降或上升，市場利率的這些變化實際上對 Farmer Mac 的影響並不大，只有幾基點的波動。

But we are not a bank that immediately benefits from sticky asset pricing and a drop in liability pricing. Ours move in tandem and are structured to remain in tandem. We carefully do upward and downward basis point shocks in funding. And today, as is the case virtually every day at Farmer Mac, those upward and downward shocks really don't result in a change in profitability in our earnings.

但我們並不是一家能夠立即從資產價格黏著度和負債價格下跌中獲益的銀行。我們的系統協同運作，其結構也旨在保持協同運作。我們仔細研究了資金方面的上下基點衝擊。而今天，就像 Farmer Mac 幾乎每天都會遇到的情況一樣，這些上漲和下跌的衝擊實際上並沒有導致我們獲利能力的變化。

So Zach, maybe you can add some color to what's driving NES and how the mix of business might impact that going forward?

扎克，你能不能詳細說說推動 NES 發展的原因，以及這種業務組合未來可能會如何影響它？

Yeah, happy to. I think first and foremost, Bose, we really focus on appropriate risk-adjusted return at Farmer Mac. As we've evolved and diversified our business model, we are in new lines of business that do carry different risks. And as we put capital to work, we want to make sure that we are achieving returns for those new lines of business.

是的，我很樂意。我覺得首先，Bose，在 Farmer Mac，我們真正關注的是適當的風險調整後效益。隨著我們業務模式的發展和多元化，我們進入了新的業務領域，這些領域確實存在不同的風險。當我們投入資金時，我們希望確保這些新業務線能夠獲得回報。

A couple of moving parts in this quarter, I think that showed the diversification benefit. We continue to see strong, strong growth in infrastructure finance. Two of the strong growth segments are broadband and renewable energy. We continue to see significant fundings in those segments. Those are market-based deals that do, in many instances, carry more accretive spreads than our core Farm & Ranch or agricultural finance line of business.

本季有幾個變動因素，我認為這反映了多元化投資的好處。我們看到基礎設施融資領域持續保持強勁成長。寬頻和再生能源是兩大強勁成長領域。我們持續看到這些領域獲得大量資金。這些是基於市場的交易，在許多情況下，它們的利差比我們核心的農場和牧場或農業金融業務更具增值潛力。

And in many instances, these transactions are construction financing. So when you think about a data center, a large commitment over that will fund over time. So we have a very strong pipeline of commitments in the broadband space that will fund as constructions take place, and we will take advantage of, I would say, more accretive spreads than our other lines of business.

在許多情況下，這些交易都是建築融資。所以，當你考慮建造資料中心時，你需要投入大量資金，隨著時間的推移才能獲得回報。因此，我們在寬頻領域擁有非常強大的專案儲備，這些專案將在建設過程中提供資金，而且我認為，我們將利用比其他業務線更具增值性的利差。

We don't see as the market evolves in this space, especially over the foreseeable future, significant changes in credit spreads in these sectors, and thus would anticipate that as fundings take place, relatively stable to accretive spreads in this space. In Farm & Ranch, there was a slight decrease in spreads, and this is typical. I mean, this is the seasonal nature of our payment cycle.

我們認為，隨著該領域市場的演變，尤其是在可預見的未來，這些行業的信貸利差不會發生重大變化，因此預計隨著融資的進行，該領域的利差將保持相對穩定或增長。在農場和牧場板塊，價差略有下降，這是正常現象。我的意思是，這是我們付款週期的季節性特徵。

We generally have more prepayments in the first and third quarter, and that generally creates some nonaccruals as we go through the quarter. And we had a little drag in Farm & Ranch from nonaccrual loans that over time will cure, and we'll receive that interest income, but that was the slight decrease in Farm & Ranch.

我們通常在第一季和第三季會有更多預付款，這通常會在季度進行過程中造成一些非應計項目。農場和牧場業務由於非應計貸款而略有下滑，但隨著時間的推移，這種情況會得到改善，我們將收到利息收入，但這就是農場和牧場業務略有下降的原因。

And then the last component, I would say, is the investment-grade credit spread market out there is extremely, extremely tight. If you follow some of the transactions, there's tremendous pricing that these organizations are getting. So we're being prudent, especially in our AgVantage securities space, to refinance and provide incremental financing when the price makes sense for our capital to go to work.

最後一點，我認為是投資等級信用利差市場非常非常緊張。如果你關註一些交易，你會發現這些機構獲得了非常優惠的價格。因此，我們採取了謹慎的做法，尤其是在我們的 AgVantage 證券領域，當價格合適時，我們會進行再融資並提供增量融資，以便我們的資本可以發揮作用。

So in instances where there's very tight credit spreads that may not make sense for us to put capital out the door, we'll look at other segments such as broadband, renewable, and corporate ag that maybe carry a higher credit spread for us for our capital use versus putting capital out the door to AgVantage. So again, this goes back to our focus of strong, risk-adjusted pricing across all of our segments and making sure that as we put capital to work, we're supporting our mission, but also getting paid for the risk that we're taking.

因此，在信貸利差非常小的情況下，如果我們把資金投入到其他領域可能沒有意義，我們會考慮其他領域，例如寬頻、再生能源和企業農業，這些領域可能具有更高的信貸利差，適合我們的資金使用，而不是把資金投入 AgVantage。所以，這又回到了我們對所有業務板塊穩健、風險調整定價的關注，確保我們在投入資本的同時，既能支持我們的使命，又能為我們承擔的風險獲得回報。

Okay, great. It's very helpful, thanks. And then actually, switching over to credit. As some of the other business lines continue to grow, should a provision around the current level that you reported this quarter and last quarter seem like a reasonable place? Or is it still going to be kind of sporadic based on what happens to the portfolio?

好的，太好了。很有幫助，謝謝。然後，實際上，就轉而使用信用卡了。隨著其他一些業務線的持續成長，將撥備維持在您本季和上季報告的當前水準附近是否合理？或者，它的波動性仍然會取決於投資組合的狀況？

First of all, in terms of context, this provision is tiny compared to other financial institutions. So we're talking about mid-high seven-figure allowance for an organization that had about $50 million of core after-tax earnings for the quarter. So keeping in that context, this is very, very low.

首先，就規模而言，與其他金融機構相比，這項規定微不足道。所以，我們討論的是數百萬美元的撥備金，而該組織本季的核心稅後收益約為 5,000 萬美元。所以從這個角度來看，這個數值非常非常低。

You've seen it fluctuate at very low levels for many, many quarters. We go to great lengths to make sure that we uncover and appropriately allowance and value any credits that seem like they're getting in trouble. And what you see reflected in the third quarter reflects everything that we see right now.

你已經看到它連續很多個季度都在非常低的水平波動。我們竭盡全力確保發現並適當處理和評估任何看起來有問題的信貸。第三季的情況反映了我們目前所看到的一切。

As I indicated in my comments earlier, we don't see systemic risks or sector risks where we have a series of loans that are in trouble. It tends to be a little bit more episodic. The closest that I reported in my comments earlier today were a few loans in California. I'm talking about a handful that were negatively impacted by changes in water policy in California in an effort to manage [subsidies], the actual depletion of groundwater, and the lowering of the elevation of land. And that was a very, very comprehensive review.

正如我之前評論中提到的，我們沒有看到系統性風險或行業風險，也沒有看到一系列貸款出現問題的情況。它的劇情往往更偏向單元劇的形式。我今天早些時候在評論中提到的最接近的例子是加州的一些貸款。我指的是少數幾個因加州水資源政策變化而受到負面影響的地區，這些變化是為了管理[補貼]、地下水的實際枯竭以及地勢的降低。這是一次非常非常全面的審查。

As of today, we don't see anything else on the horizon that would cause the numbers to increase. But look at, there's very likely to be continuing episodic events and some numbers here and there. Today, we don't see anything that would make us think that the number next quarter is going to jump out of that kind of seven-figure range.

截至目前，我們還沒有看到任何可能導致感染人數增加的因素。但你看，很可能還會出現一些零星的事件，以及零星的數字。目前來看，我們沒有任何跡象顯示下個季度的數字會突破七位數大關。

Okay, great. Thank you.

好的，太好了。謝謝。

Bill Ryan, Seaport Global.

比爾·瑞安，海港環球公司。

Thanks and good afternoon. I'd also like to extend congratulations to both you, Brad, and Zach, for the announcement a couple of months ago. A couple of questions. First, starting off on the big picture of things. Obviously, a lot of headlines over the last quarter that I think have impacted the stock price at least to some degree, specifically tariffs. And the media has portrayed as the end of the farmer, it seems like when you listen to the news. But obviously, you portrayed it very differently on the call today.

謝謝，下午好。我也要向你、布萊德和札克表示祝賀，祝賀你們幾個月前宣布的喜訊。幾個問題。首先，讓我們從大局著手。顯然，上個季度有許多新聞頭條對股價產生了一定程度的影響，特別是關稅問題。媒體似乎把農民的末日描繪成了這樣，你聽新聞就會發現這一點。但很顯然，你今天在電話會議上的說法截然不同。

Could you maybe remind us what the crops are that -- I guess, I'd say we know about soybeans, but what are the crops that are being most impacted by tariffs? What are you seeing? And as far as have the market stabilization payments to farmers started? Or is that kind of on the come?

您能否提醒我們一下，哪些作物—我想我們都知道大豆，但哪些作物受關稅影響最大？你看到了什麼？向農民發放市場穩定補貼的進度如何？或者說，這大概是即將發生的？

Yeah. Well, thank you, Bill. And we appreciate the recognition that you made that it's probably some of these headlines and major publications about negative developments in agriculture that have negatively impacted our stock price. We see the same thing. But it's always a little bit more of a nuanced story.

是的。謝謝你，比爾。我們感謝您指出，正是這些關於農業負面發展的頭條新聞和主要出版物可能對我們的股價產生了負面影響。我們看到的情況也是一樣。但這總是一個更微妙的故事。

Soybean prices in the last 2.5 weeks are up 10%. Almond prices were a very large portion of the crop, 50% is shipped to Asia. You think we'd be very negative in the last 1.5 years. Prices there are up to over $3 a pound from a mid-$1 a pound range 18 months ago.

過去2.5週，大豆價格上漲了10%。杏仁價格在作物中佔很大比例，其中 50% 出口到亞洲。你認為我們過去一年半的態度會非常負面嗎？那裡的價格已經從18個月前的每磅1美元左右漲到了每磅3美元以上。

So yes, there are definitely financial pressures in major crops: soybeans, corn and cotton, also wheat. We pay great attention to that. We are very concerned about the farm families that may be negatively impacted by that.

所以，是的，主要農作物（大豆、玉米、棉花以及小麥）確實面臨財務壓力。我們非常重視這一點。我們非常擔心那些可能因此受到負面影響的農戶家庭。

But we have seen these cycles in American agriculture before. The last time was in 2019, 2020. And we believe that through a combination of better balances in supply/demand globally, more stabilization in tariff and export policies, and farmers making decisions based on what they see in front of them.

但我們以前也曾在美國農業中看到過這種週期性波動。上一次是在 2019 年、2020 年。我們相信，透過改善全球供需平衡、更穩定關稅和出口政策，以及農民根據眼前所見做出決策，就能實現這一目標。

If you asked someone a month ago, are we going to be planting as many soybeans in the United States in 2026 as in '25? The answer is a resounding no. Farmers are very smart and very adaptive, and they look at market conditions and adjust accordingly.

如果你一個月前問別人，2026 年美國種植的大豆數量是否會和 2025 年一樣多？答案是絕對的否定。農民非常聰明，適應力也很強，他們會觀察市場狀況並做出相應的調整。

So we look at what actually happens to our portfolio, which is really a second derivative from what's going on in the countryside. And we haven't seen the kind of impact that may be suggested by the headlines.

因此，我們要觀察我們的投資組合的實際表現，這實際上是農村地區情況的二階導數。我們還沒有看到新聞標題所暗示的那種影響。

Going to discretionary payments, what we call market facilitation payments during the Trump first administration, I think we're expecting to see about $10 billion to $12 billion flow in the next couple of weeks. There is discussion about additional payments towards the end of the year. We'll see how that materializes.

談到可自由支配的支付，也就是我們在川普第一任期內稱之為市場促進支付的款項，我認為我們預計在接下來的幾週內將有大約 100 億至 120 億美元的資金流入。目前正在討論年底前追加付款事宜。我們拭目以待。

And I would note, when you think about those headlines, that there are advocacy groups for farmers who are interested in telling a story that results in greater sentiment, greater support for voluntary payments from the federal government. And that has been one factor in what has been motivating and capturing a lot of headlines recently.

我想指出的是，當你思考這些新聞標題時，你會發現有一些農民權益倡導組織，他們希望講述一個能引起更多人共鳴、更多人支持聯邦政府自願支付的故事。而這正是近期引發許多關注並佔據新聞頭條的原因之一。

Bill, this is Zach. Just one comment as you think about Farmer Mac and our unique nature as a national secondary market, but we're not focused on specific regions, and that's important, right? I mean, there's a lot of negativity on the soybean farmers out there. But if you look at dairy, protein, livestock, a significant part of the ag sector is having tremendously strong results, tremendously strong export markets. And when you think about Farmer Mac, I've looked at the year-to-date loan purchases in our Farm & Ranch space is over 100 different commodities in practically all 50 states, covering all of these different ag sectors.

比爾，這是紮克。在您思考 Farmer Mac 以及我們作為全國二級市場的獨特性質時，我想說一點：我們並不專注於特定地區，這很重要，對吧？我的意思是，外界對大豆種植者有很多負面看法。但如果你看看乳製品、蛋白質、畜牧業，你會發現農業部門的很大一部分都取得了非常強勁的業績，出口市場也非常強勁。說到 Farmer Mac，我查看了我們農場和牧場領域今年迄今為止的貸款購買情況，發現其涉及幾乎所有 50 個州的 100 多種不同商品，涵蓋了所有不同的農業部門。

So I think it's important when you think about our national diversity that we are diverse. We are executing across all the different ag commodities, and we're seeing a lot of the benefits of the strength of many of those ag borrowers that are seeing record years wanting to buy more land, wanting to buy more equipment, and we're able to support that as well as we have concerns for providing liquidity and solutions for other farmers that may be having a more difficult time.

所以我認為，當我們思考我們國家的多樣性時，我們自身的多樣性這一點非常重要。我們正在各個農產品領域開展業務，我們看到許多農業借款人受益匪淺，他們正經歷創紀錄的年份，想要購買更多土地、更多設備，我們能夠為他們提供支持，同時我們也關注為其他可能面臨更困難的農民提供流動性和解決方案。

Okay, thanks for the detail on that. And just as a follow-up question, you highlighted Farm & Ranch. And if I got my numbers in right, the new business volume was up about 38% in the quarter, following a 28% year-over-year increase.

好的，謝謝你提供的詳細資訊。還有一個後續問題，您重點提到了農場和牧場。如果我的數據沒錯，本季新業務量成長了約 38%，而去年同期成長了 28%。

Last quarter, I believe the outstanding balance was up for the first time in like five or six quarters in terms of outstandings. Are we hitting -- and you also know there's a higher level of prepayments in the quarter as well. Are we hitting a point that that business might begin to accelerate a little bit more just in terms of total outstanding volume?

上個季度，我認為未償餘額出現了五、六個季度以來的首次成長。我們是否達到了目標——而且你也知道，本季的預付款水準也更高。我們是否已經達到一個臨界點，從未結清款項總量來看，這項業務可能會開始加速成長？

And a part of that, has the structure of the loans that you're offering changed? Is it a fixed rate, a variable rate? Is the mix about the same as it has been in the past?

其中一部分問題是，你們提供的貸款結構是否改變了？是固定利率還是浮動利率？目前的配比和以往差不多嗎？

I mean, that's a tremendous question. And I think we've been focused on this for some time now in a couple of scenarios. First, yes, we are seeing a significant increase in loan applications, loan approvals using the Farmer Mac secondary market across the board. As I mentioned earlier, the number of commodities that we've supported this year is over 100. So it's broad-based.

我的意思是，這真是個絕妙的問題。我認為我們已經在幾種情況下關注這個問題一段時間了。首先，是的，我們看到透過 Farmer Mac 二級市場進行的貸款申請和貸款批准數量全面顯著增加。正如我之前提到的，今年我們支援的商品種類超過 100 種。所以它的基礎很廣泛。

And I think that's coming from numerous different avenues. First, yes, there are ag sectors out there that are incredibly strong and wanted to borrow and leverage the opportunities in the market. We are seeing that.

我認為這源自於許多不同的面向。首先，是的，有些農業部門實力非常強勁，他們希望藉貸並利用市場機會。我們看到了這一點。

Clearly, some sectors need liquidity to support working capital. Many of these borrowers are underlevered. They have significant equity in their land, and it's a key component of getting liquidity to support maybe a tough 2025 harvest, and we're seeing that as well.

顯然，某些產業需要流動資金來支持營運資金。這些借款人中許多人的槓桿率都偏低。他們在土地上擁有大量權益，這是獲得流動性以應對可能艱難的 2025 年收成的關鍵因素，我們也看到了這一點。

Interestingly enough, a significant majority of the growth in 2025 has been new money loans, meaning borrowers coming in to find liquidity for a new land purchase, equipment purchase. So again, going back to Brad's point, we are not seeing that significant stress that people are reading in the environment and the articles in our portfolio, which gives us confidence that we see continued growth going forward. We anticipate that as rates continue to mostly come lower, that will also increase loan demand.

有趣的是，2025 年的大部分成長都是新增貸款，這意味著借款人是為了尋找流動資金來購買新的土地或設備。所以，再次回到布拉德的觀點，我們並沒有看到人們在我們投資組合中的環境和文章中讀到的那種顯著壓力，這讓我們有信心，我們將看到未來持續成長。我們預計，隨著利率持續走低，貸款需求也將隨之增加。

In terms of the structure of our loans, we changed our underwriting criteria. We continue to be very consistent and methodical on how we look at risk. We do offer pricing based on risk. I would say that farmers generally go in a little bit shore into more variable rate products. Given the pricing dynamics between that and the long-term fixed rate mortgage, hasn't changed over the years. So we consistently see that.

在貸款結構方面，我們改變了承銷標準。我們在評估風險方面始終保持高度的一致性和系統性。我們提供基於風險的定價方案。我認為，農民通常會稍微謹慎一些，而更多地採用可變費率產品。鑑於該利率與長期固定利率抵押貸款之間的定價動態多年來一直沒有改變。所以我們一直都能看到這種情況。

And I'd say the last component is our customers are banks and community commercial banks, financial institutions. They need to manage their liquidity, their capital, their loan to deposit ratio. And that is the component. If there is a need to potentially sell assets into the secondary market to help with increased capital retention and/or efficiency, that's the consideration for the secondary market. So as we look forward in Farm & Ranch, we see a very strong 2025 and that continued into 2026, given these dynamics I just mentioned.

最後一個組成部分是我們的客戶是銀行、社區商業銀行和金融機構。他們需要管理好流動性、資本和存貸比。這就是組件。如果需要將資產出售到二級市場以幫助提高資本留存率和/或效率，這就是二級市場的考量。因此，展望未來，鑑於我剛才提到的這些動態，我們認為 2025 年農場和牧場產業將非常強勁，而這種強勁勢頭將延續到 2026 年。

Okay, thanks for taking my questions.

好的，謝謝您回答我的問題。

Brendan McCarthy, Sidoti.

布倫丹·麥卡錫，西多蒂。

Great, good afternoon. And I want to echo the ongratulations to Brad and to Zach. I also wanted to circle back to Farm & Ranch. Just curious as to how prepayments have trended lately in your expectations there looking ahead.

午安.我謹向布萊德和札克表示祝賀。我還想再談談農場和牧場。我只是好奇最近預付款的趨勢如何，以及您對未來預付款的預期。

Prepayments have been significantly lower since, I'd say, the significant drop in rates in 2020 and 2021. We don't envision increasing significantly, just given we don't think rates are going to drop to accelerated levels. And I think a key component of that is in the 2020 and 2021, a significant number of borrowers that just locked -- in long-term fixed-rate mortgages at historically low rates, those are set for life. There's no way those are going to be touched or refined.

自 2020 年和 2021 年利率大幅下降以來，預付款已大幅減少。我們預計不會大幅增加，因為我們認為利率不會下降到加速下降的水平。我認為其中一個關鍵因素是，在 2020 年和 2021 年，大量借款人鎖定了長期固定利率抵押貸款，利率處於歷史低位，這些利率將終身保持不變。這些內容絕對不會有任何改變或改進。

So what we're seeing now is a much lower environment for prepayments, given the bulk of those refinancings took place, coupled with -- rates may moderate a little bit, but it's not going to significantly come down to lower levels to entice that refinancing opportunity, which is tending to then lower prepayment speeds as well as farmers are going to take probably shorter maturity variable rate mortgages to manage the volatility that they experience across their different ag sectors.

因此，我們現在看到的是提前還款環境要低得多，因為大部分再融資已經完成，再加上利率可能會略有緩和，但不會大幅下降到足以吸引再融資機會的水平，這往往會降低提前還款的速度，同時農民可能會選擇期限較短的浮​​動利率抵押貸款來應對他們在不同農業領域所經歷的波動。

Yeah, that makes sense. And I wanted to go to the net effective spread, back up to 1.2%, a really strong level. I know looking back at the past couple of quarters, there might have been the expectation that that net effective spread would stabilize, maybe closer to the mid-teens area. But obviously, there's some secular growth trends at play there with the infrastructure finance segment.

嗯，有道理。我希望淨有效價差能回到 1.2%，這是一個非常高的水平。我知道回顧過去幾個季度，人們可能預期淨有效利差會趨於穩定，也許會接近十幾個百分點的水平。但很顯然，基礎設施融資領域存在一些長期成長趨勢。

Just curious if there's anything baked into that net effective spread, 1.2% that might have surprised you, or maybe just previous past quarterly movements upwards. Has that come as a surprise at all to you?

我只是好奇，1.2% 的淨有效利差是否包含了任何可能讓您感到驚訝的因素，或者只是過去幾個季度利差的上升趨勢。這讓你感到意外嗎？

We acknowledge that it's probably a little bit higher than we have commented on over the last year. But so too has been the pace of growth, particularly in rural infrastructure, which is amongst the most accretive segments that we have. And so that's really the primary reason.

我們承認，這個數字可能比我們過去一年來所透露的數字要高一些。但成長速度也是如此，尤其是在農村基礎設施領域，這是我們最具成長潛力的領域之一。所以這才是主要原因。

It's a good news story from our standpoint. And I think Zach provided some good commentary and analysis on that mix going forward, with maybe a little bit of pressure on corporate and AgVantage, but acceleration of the Farm & Ranch opportunity and continuing very, very strong strength and expectations for rural infrastructure.

從我們的角度來看，這是個好消息。我認為 Zach 對未來的這種組合提供了一些很好的評論和分析，可能會給企業和 AgVantage 帶來一些壓力，但農場和牧場的機會將會加速，農村基礎設施將繼續保持非常強勁的勢頭和期望。

Brendan, the only thing I'd comment on as well is mix is important here. We've been talking about some of the headwinds we've seen in Farm & Ranch AgVantage. That product by itself is a fairly tight net effective spread margin, just given the strength of the counterparties we're lending to.

布倫丹，我唯一想補充的是，混音在這裡很重要。我們一直在討論我們在農場和牧場行業遇到的一些不利因素。考慮到我們貸款給的交易對手的實力，該產品本身的淨有效利差就相當小。

So when you see a lot of that volume mature, especially in this environment with historically low credit spreads, part of it we're choosing not to put money out the door because that investment doesn't make sense for us. So with that headwind in the maturity space and the significant growth elsewhere, the mix is really rebalancing the NES spread to the higher level of our range than what we'd expect if we saw a lot of AgVantage volume.

所以，當看到很多交易量到期時，尤其是在當前信用利差處於歷史低點的環境下，我們選擇不把錢投出去，因為這項投資對我們來說沒有意義。因此，由於成熟市場面臨不利因素，而其他市場則出現顯著增長，市場組合實際上正在重新平衡 NES 價差，使其達到我們預期範圍的較高水平，而如果我們看到 AgVantage 交易量很大，則我們可能會預期出現這種情況。

Great, that's helpful. And one quick question on the credit side with the $7.4 million provision in the quarter, specifically as it relates to the $6.8 million provision in Ag Finance. Just looking at the breakdown there, would you say that was more weighted towards just general volume growth or the groundwater regulations in California you mentioned?

太好了，這很有幫助。關於信貸方面，本季提列了 740 萬美元的撥備，特別是與農業金融計提的 680 萬美元撥備有關的問題，我有一個快速的問題。單從這份細分數據來看，您認為這更多是由於整體水量增長，還是由於您提到的加州地下水法規？

It was actually a mix of growth that comes through our CECL models [as] the groundwater. And I think we also called out three specific credits that had special allowances. So once again, it was a mix. I'd characterize it as episodic, and that's really what it was.

實際上，這是透過我們的 CECL 模型預測的地下水成長的混合體。而且我認為我們也特別提到了三個有特殊優惠的學分。所以，結果又是各種因素混雜在一起。我會把它描述為單元劇，而它也確實如此。

Got it. And then the $4.4 million charge-off, the three borrowers there, I guess that was probably disclosed previously in a provision. Is that correct or --?

知道了。還有 440 萬美元的沖銷，涉及三家借款人，我想這可能之前已經在準備金中披露過了。這樣對嗎？——？

No. No, it was just three small loans.

不。不，只是三筆小額貸款。

Got it. That makes sense. And then lastly, I just wanted to obviously comment on the environment, more negative than really what you have disclosed on the earnings call here regarding the diversification of your portfolio. But just considering where the share price is, and really, maybe a misconception among investors, were you active at all in the share repurchasing program that we discussed last quarter?

知道了。這很有道理。最後，我當然想就環境議題發表一些看法，這比你們在財報電話會議上揭露的關於投資組合多元化的資訊要負面得多。但考慮到目前的股價，以及投資者可能存在的誤解，您是否積極參與了我們上個季度討論過的股票回購計劃？

We were. We disclosed the purchase of about 30,000 shares at a price of about $5 million. That was fourth quarter.

我們是。我們揭露了以約 500 萬美元的價格購買約 3 萬股股票的情況。那是第四節比賽。

Understood. Thanks, Brad. Thanks, Zach. That's all for me.

明白了。謝謝你，布拉德。謝謝你，扎克。我的內容就這些了。

There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call over to Brad Nordholm. Please continue.

目前沒有其他問題了。現在我將把電話轉給布拉德·諾德霍爾姆。請繼續。

Great. Well, thank you very much. Once again, we really appreciate you taking time out of your day to join us. We're proud of our results. I hope that's very clear.

偉大的。非常感謝。再次感謝您抽出時間參加我們的活動。我們為所取得的成績感到自豪。我希望這一點已經很清楚了。

Once again, I think someone once characterized our results as boring. If record NES, 17% ROE, stable credit factors, and an efficiency ratio of 30% are boring, I'll take that any day, and I hope you appreciate it, too.

我記得有人曾經形容我們的研究結果很無聊。如果創紀錄的淨經營收入、17% 的淨資產收益率、穩定的信貸因素和 30% 的效率比率讓你覺得無聊，那我寧願選擇這樣的業績，也希望你能欣賞它。

So thanks for joining us. And again, if you have any questions or whatsoever, please take them in with Jalpa. We'll circle up the right team to have a special call with you, talk you through your questions. And otherwise, we look forward to getting back with you on our regular scheduled call in February to discuss our fourth quarter and fiscal 2025 results. Good day.

謝謝您的參與。再次提醒，如果您有任何問題，請隨時向 Jalpa 諮詢。我們會安排合適的團隊與您進行一次專門的通話，解答您的疑問。此外，我們期待在二月份的例行電話會議上與您再次聯繫，討論我們第四季度和 2025 財年的業績。再會。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線了。