‘Hopefully, they’ll walk away with options’: Decades-long financial expert gives free counseling to Nebraska farmers

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Nebraska farmers and ranchers have experienced some difficult times over the last few months.

After historic wildfires devastated much of the western part of the state, it was followed by drought, then flooding.

David Haupt has seen his share of ups and downs in the agriculture business after a nearly 50-year career as a financial lender.

Less than a year after retiring, he’s decided to share the lessons he’s learned from the 1980’s farm crisis to the ethanol boom of the 2010’s to help the new generation of farmers and ranchers succeed despite struggle.

Haupt has recently accepted a role as a financial advisor for the Center for Agricultural Profitability, less than a year after his retirement.

The position was created in partnership with Nebraska Extension, through a grant by the Distressed Borrowers’ Assistance Network and the Rural Response Hotline.

He’s hosting workshops and will soon offer one-on-one counseling to those who need it, completely free and completely confidential.

“It was kind of God’s timing,” said Haupt about his reason for doing this. “I have no skin in the game. I’m not their lender, so I’m not going to judge them from that aspect, I’m not their marketing managers, I’m not going to make any money off of that.”

Haupt goes on to say that he believes the role lenders have is to help younger producers manage their way through what he is calling “lean margin periods of time to come.”

He says that agriculture has seen this many times in the past, but “this generation may not have seen much of,” said Haupt.

Haupt said that over the past five decades, he’s seen agricultural resources become more helpful, and farmers and ranchers become more connected to each other.

He also says that lenders have become savvier in the process they use to approve loans.

He says that today they do so based on the producer’s ability to repay it, rather than on the amount of collateral they have.

Haupt says his goal is simple: “Hopefully, they’ll walk away with options.”

“They’re going to come in and probably show us a balance sheet, income statements, tell us what their concerns are, tell us what their goals are, tell us ‘I’m at point A, I want to get to point B or C,'” he said.

Haupt says that he also aims to give them some self-confidence, knowing that they have options to pursue.

His idea client? Someone is considering a fairly major decision, like buying a farm or an expensive piece of equipment.

“Or, maybe just someone who is like ‘Man, I’ve lost money two or three years in a row, and I need to do something differently.”

Haupt’s office is currently in Kearney, but he offers both in-person and Zoom consultations.

His first client is a Lancaster County farmer. If you would like to contact Haupt, you can email him at dhaupt@unl.edu.