“I have developed actual relationships with my customers because it is farming. It is such a small world at the end of the day and all of my customers are either friends or family to me at some point in time. Even customers from previous banks, we still talk and we still have that relationship because you’re in farming and I feel like everybody’s the same in the agriculture community. They’re good people and they’re honest people and they want to help everybody. And I think that’s just agriculture in general.”  In this episode, I had the pleasure of chatting with Kaitlyn Niemeyer Burks. Kaitlyn is Head of Ag Lending at a bank in Missouri. At home, Kaitlyn is a 4th generation farmer and she shares that being a banker and having farmers as customers, while wasn’t her original plan, it is her way of helping her family farm and staying connected to agriculture and people in the ag industry. Kaitlyn gives some insight on new trends she is seeing in younger generations of farmers as well as some tips for starting farmers. Kaitlyn also shares about her passion for helping her customers throughout their farming journey.      About our guest:  Kaitlyn is Head of Ag Lending at First State Community Bank and a 4th generation farmer. She enjoys helping beginning farmers find ways to discover lending opportunities and educating individuals on working with the farm service agencies. If you are interested in connecting with Kaitlyn, check out her TikTok.     At a glance:   Kaitlyn’s finance and banking career.   Things Kaitlyn is seeing in the new generations of farmers that are different from past generations.  Kaitlyn’s tips for success when working with FSA or for starting farmers.   You may also enjoy… #14 Time vs. Money and Opportunity Cost on the Farm #29 Bridging the Gap in Ag Culture with Megan Larson #38 How to Make Growing Your Local Ag Business Easier with Sammy Gleason   About your host:  I’m your host, Lexi Wright. I started the Farming on Purpose Podcast from a passion for sharing  the future of production agriculture.  I’m so glad you’re here and I hope you’ll take a moment to join the conversation with me and other listeners on social media.   Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.