Pretty lame culture. Leadership likes to emphasize being collaborative and progressive, but I don't think they actually know what those words mean. At AgFirst, "collaborative" means cow-towing to the most passive-aggressive, vindictive voices in the room (of which there are many). Being "progressive" means absolutely nothing, since the whole Farm Credit system is run by folks who mostly should have retired after the collapse of the financial system in 2008. Express any concerns about strategic direction or question any decisions at your own risk.
They tell you that you're supporting rural America, but a large portion of the funding that Farm Credit provides goes towards multinational conglomerates whose investments never actually benefit the average farmer or American. There's an argument to be made that Farm Credit has far outlived its original charter and purpose, but that's outside of the scope of this review.
Pay is pretty good when you're hired, but quickly falls out of line with the additional responsibilities you're handed out due to poor planning by inept leadership and a senior management team that has a 1970-80s mentality to doing business. These brilliant business minds consistently bite off more than they can chew, overcommit to projects and resource and it's up to a team of highly qualified but overwhelmed IT technicians, analysts and developers to make it all happen. It's a house of cards the likes of which I've never seen.
Associations ("partners" as they're laughably referred to), which are the entities that some teams have to work with on a day-to-day basis, are outright abusive. If you say no to the wrong person or don't kiss their rear end in quite the right way, you're probably going to be put on a EIP or outright fired. Not saying "yes ma'am" or "no sir" with enough enthusiasm is a fireable offense when it comes to our "partners". You've been warned.
Don't be fooled by the inflated reviews posted by interns and new employees. This place has experienced a recent exodus of middle managers and senior leaders who saw through the facade.
