The Banker Next Door

Regenerative agriculture, corporate seed control, and Ag lending in 2026

Farmers received some relief in December of 2025 when President Trump unveiled a $12 billion dollar aid package. They also received some good news when Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and RFK, Jr. announced a $700 million investment in regenerative agriculture. Farmers reacted very positively to both announcements. Regenerative agriculture is something that farmers have been looking at for many years and hopefully this will help to rejuvenate many farmers around the U.S. Perhaps more important is the corporate seed control by four major conglomerates. Their monopoly is a threat to our food system. Finally, bankers need to be aware of recent sentiment in Ag, provide flexible products and services, manage risk, and continue to build relationships.  This episode reviewed four articles from The Epoch Times (subscription required) titled “Rollins, RFK Jr. Announce $700M investment in regenerative agriculture,” “Farmers react to USDA allocating $700 million for regenerative agriculture,” “Trump unveils $12 billion bailout for farmers,” and “Corporate seed control raises costs, stakes for America’s food security” and a blog post from PCBB titled “What does Ag lending hold in 2026?” A link to the PCBB blog post is included below.
Link: What Does Ag Lending Hold in 2026?

Community Bank CEOs see differentiation as their key strategic focus for 2026

What strategies are most important to community bank CEOs going into 2026? 72% of community bankers surveyed believe that their greatest opportunity lies in differentiating their bank from other financial institutions in their market. Approximately 15% are exploring new lines of business, fintech partnerships, digitization, and wealth management / financial planning as other strategies. 50% of bankers surveyed believe they need to focus on marketing in 2026, specifically digital marketing. 59% of bankers surveyed believe that growing deposits will be their #1 challenge in 2026. Of the bankers focusing on a new line of business, 17% are focusing on Treasury management services. 47% of bankers surveyed believe that commercial real estate lending was going to be their primary driver of revenue in 2026. Finally, 65% of bankers surveyed see another community bank or a credit union as their primary competitor. This episode reviews an article from Independent Banker Magazine titled “Community Bank CEO Outlook 2026: Your Peers’ Plans.” A link to the article is included below.    
Link: Community Bank CEO Outlook 2026: Challenges & Opportunities - Independent Banker - ICBA.org

With a multi-billion-dollar fraud uncovered in Minnesota, what does this mean for banks?

A massive welfare fraud scheme has been uncovered in Minnesota. The amount of the fraud is estimated at $9 billion but could end up being much higher. Many people have been implicated and investigations have begun. The U.S. Treasury began taking actions back in December focusing on money services businesses (MSBs). The SBA then announced a halt on $5.5 million in federal payments to Minnesota and will begin reviewing all SBA loans and PPP loans made in the state since 2020. The focus of prosecutors is around the policy ‘Minnesota Nice’ and how billions may have been siphoned through social welfare programs. The more concerning part of this story is the fact that these schemes seem to be rampant across the country and possibly in every state. There is no doubt this will come back to banks in multiple ways. This episode examined multiple articles from The Epoch Times and The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

'As the Republic turns' is renewed for a second season!

We thought that the soap opera of Republic First Bank ended with its failure and purchase by Fulton Bank, but luckily for us it has just been renewed for a second season! The FDIC is now investigating Republic First Bancorp board members around the failure of the bank, which cost the FDIC insurance fund as estimated $667 million. In turn, Republic First is suing Great American Insurance for $9.38 million over an alleged coverage denial. The bank is claiming that unpaid legal bills contributed to its failure. This episode reviews two articles from The Business Journals (subscription required) titled “FDIC investigating board members of failed Republic First Bancorp, shareholder lawyers allege in filing” and “Republic First alleges insurer’s ‘bad faith denial’ contributed to its collapse.”  

BND: Strategy Room 1-10-2026

The Banker Next Door (BND) weekly live stream show. Strategy Room provides financial news, commentary, top stories in the business world, economic indicators, and all things banking for the week.

Warren Buffett is gone! End of an era at Berkshire Hathaway

Warren Buffett has stepped down as CEO at Berkshire Hathaway after a six-decade run. Warren will remain Chairman, but he has turned over all day-to-day operations to Greg Abel. There will never be another Warren Buffett. The return generated by Berkshire from 1964 to 2024 was nothing short of insane. During this period the compound annual gain was 19.9%, nearly double the S&P 500’s return of 10.4%, this resulted in an overall return of more than 5.5 million percent! In the mid-1960s Berkshire shares traded around $19 by the end of 2025, a single class A share was worth over $750,000! Warren believes that Berkshire is being left in great hands and can last another 100 years. One of the biggest questions for the new CEO is how he will invest the massive $358 billion cash pile on Berkshire’s balance sheet. This episode reviewed three articles from The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

What is hot in Private Equity and what are they doing in 2026?

There is a boom in dealmaking right now in the wealth management business, this is due to private equity firms buying up smaller firms. Private equity is also focused on other industries including veterinarians and dentists. However, private equity is dealing with a few issues going into 2026. First, they are sitting on a large pile of cash, approximately $880 billion. Second, the average holding period is still pushing up against their industry high at 7 years. Third, the number of companies sitting in private equity portfolios is at 15 years high of approximately 12,900. The industry is hoping that M&A and IPOs pick up in 2026, which will help pick up activity and reduce all these issues. This episode reviewed two articles from The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).  

Crypto accounting, North Korean Bankers, and year end hangover (Crypto Series Part XXXII)

This is part 32 of the crypto series. In this episode we cover FASB weighing whether some stablecoins may qualify as cash equivalents in 2026. JPMorgan is getting further into crypto with a tokenized money fund called My OnChain Net Yield Fund or “MONY”. The fund will only be opened to qualified investors with at least $5 million in investments. Crypto investors were loving most of 2025 as the President embraced crypto, there was a shift in tone from regulators, congress passes crypto regulation, but then the end of the year came. Crypto slumped across the finish line with a negative return for the year. Finally, a north Korean banker runs afoul of the FBI with crypto dealings. The article lays out how he ran his operation and laundered millions. This episode reviewed multiple articles from The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).  

Silver market is on fire! Supply shortage or market manipulation?

Heading into Monday December 29th silver futures witnessed one of the largest plunges it has seen in 5 years. This plunge came on the heels of silver futures making a massive run up to over $80 an ounce. A wild story began to circulate about one of the largest banks in the country receiving a margin call so large that it was going to wipe out all its liquidity. This story turned out to be false… mostly but not entirely. No bank failed. However, JPMorgan did change their trading position, going long in silver futures and the CME group raised its precious metals margins TWICE in one week. Silver and Gold both experienced record years in 2025, but are we in store for more craziness in 2026? This episode examined various articles and charts from CNBC, The Epoch Times, and USAGOLD.   

Fed makes massive year end REPO injection! Liquidity problem or window dressing?

On December 31, 2025, the Federal Reserve made a massive $74.6B securities purchase in the REPO market. This also coincided with mortgage-based securities purchases, treasury securities purchases, a surge in SOFR volume, and an increase in the Fed’s balance sheet. The big question here is this a sign of major market liquidity issues or just year end window dressing? This episode examines various charts from the St. Louis Federal Reserve FRED database.