Pub.10 2022 Issue 1

Following a virtual meeting in 2021, Ag bankers from around the state came together in person for the 2022 Ag Outlook & Conference, February 10-11 at the Dixie Convention Center in St. George, Utah. The two-day conference — in partnership with the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences at Utah State University — featured a diverse list of speakers and topics, including economic and weather forecasts, new tools and technologies, and reminders to stay diligent with advocacy efforts.

What do bananas and baking soda have to do with bank marketing? I thought you would never ask. Let’s start with the bananas.

We can all recite numerous methods of self-improvement. You eat right and exercise to get fit; you lift weights to gain physical strength, or play games and learn a new language to improve your brain. But what can you do to grow in your career?

At the end of May, the government’s Paycheck Protection Program is scheduled to come to a close. If Congress does not extend the program, we can expect the “Monday morning quarterbacking” about the impact of the program on the economy, its design and implementation, and its ultimate cost to begin. Those are appropriate questions to ask as we consider the lessons learned from the nation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

What happens when everything in society becomes political? I really don’t want to find out. The political pendulum is swinging higher and faster than ever. Sincere communication and debate are non-existent. Learning is considered a weakness. Reality is twisted to support any number of preferred narratives, which are then used as justification to push the reactive political pendulum higher in the opposite direction.