Meet the Experts Behind The Feed

Jackson Takach

Chief Economist & Senior Director of Strategy, Research, and Analytics

Jackson Takach, Chief Economist, is a Kentucky native whose strong ties to agriculture began while growing up in the small farming town of Scottsville. He has since dedicated a career to agricultural finance where he can combine his passion for rural America with his natural curiosity of the world and his strong (and perhaps unrealistic) desire to explain how we interact within it. He joined the Farmer Mac team in 2005, and has worked in the research, credit, and underwriting departments. Today, his focus at Farmer Mac currently includes quantitative analysis of credit, interest rate, and other market-based risks, as well as monitoring conditions of the agricultural economy, operational information systems analysis, and statistical programming. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in economics from Centre College, a Master’s degree in agricultural economics from Purdue University, and a Master’s of Business Administration from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.

Blaine Nelson

Senior Economist

Blaine Nelson is the Senior Economist on the Strategy, Research, and Analytics team at Farmer Mac. In his role, he analyzes trends within America’s agricultural sector, with areas of focus including farmland values, commodity prices, interest rates, and agricultural sector profitability. He disseminates this information to borrowers and lenders to help keep them well-informed about the environment they operate in and to help guide their decisions. Blaine was raised on a commercial row crop and dairy farm in Northern Minnesota and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Applied Economics from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree in Agricultural and Applied Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Zachary Carpenter

Executive Vice President – Chief Business Officer

As Executive Vice President – Chief Business Officer, Zack leads the vision, development, and go-to-market strategy of the Farmer Mac brand. He also oversees the company’s Agribusiness activities, including the business development and marketing efforts for its foundational lines of business that provide agricultural lenders across the country with financial solutions and effective risk mitigation tools that allow farmers, ranchers, and agribusinesses access to flexible and affordable credit. In this role, he oversees the company’s expansive loan portfolio, partner and business development strategies, product innovation and standardization, and marketing and corporate communications.

Brian Brinch

Senior Vice President – Enterprise Risk Officer

Brian is Farmer Mac’s Senior Vice President – Enterprise Risk Officer and is responsible for the maintenance and continuous evolution of an enterprise-wide risk management framework that supports the strategic goals of the organization. He works closely with senior leaders across the organization and with the Board Risk Committee to build upon Farmer Mac’s existing strong and conservative culture of risk management, and helps set the vision and strategy for enterprise-wide risk management. Brian joined Farmer Mac in 2000, and most recently served as Senior Vice President of Rural Infrastructure, where he was responsible for the division’s business development and customer success strategy. Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Financial Planning and Analysis, where he led the development of the company’s strategic planning initiative and guided its financial projections and data analytics.

Brian’s interest in Farmer Mac began while he was attending Pennsylvania State University for his Master’s in Agricultural and Applied Economics. He won the Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award for his thesis titled “An Analysis of Farmer Mac Prepayment Penalty Designs.” Brian is a CFA Charterholder, is FRM Certified, and has completed Carnegie Mellon University’s Chief Risk Officer certificate program.