"I Have the Best Job in the World": Gary Brandt on What Co-ops See Before Banks Do

"I have the best job in the world. We help the farmers in Nebraska feed the world. It's noble work."That is Gary Brandt, CEO of Cooperative Producers Inc., a farmer-owned cooperative serving central Nebraska since 1906.Co-ops sit upstream of the financial system. They spot shifts in prepay behavior, input orders, and accounts receivable weeks before that data ever hits a commercial loan officer's desk.In this episode, Gary joins Dr. Ernie Goss and Andrew Hoover to lay out the numbers driving rural anxiety today. They break down the friction points for the 2026 crop season: thousand-dollar nitrogen, sub-five-dollar corn, surging land rents, and why farmers are intentionally slowing down their loan draws while they wait for July rain.May 2026 Rural Mainstreet Index highlights:Overall index: 45.7, fourth straight month below growth neutralEquipment sales: 18.2, 33rd consecutive month of declineLoan volume: 67.4, risingConfidence: 34.8, fallingNebraska RMI: 51.4, the only state in the ten-state region still above growth neutralHosted by Andrew HooverProduced at Creighton University’s Heider College of Business / MCEI This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit erniegoss.substack.com