Texas Farm Credit Donates $5,000 to Sam Houston State University

From left to right are Bill Slomchinski, Dr. Stanley Kelley of SHSU, Brett Slomchinski and Sarah Franklin of Texas Farm Credit.

Texas Farm Credit and the Bill Slomchinski Family recently donated $5,000 to the Sam Houston State University (SHSU) Department of Agricultural Sciences. The rural lending cooperative and Slomchinski Family received the funds as winners of the 2018 Farm Credit video contest.

A video highlighting Bill and his son, Brett, both SHSU graduates, was submitted to the contest by their lender, Texas Farm Credit.

Organized by the national Farm Credit Council, the contest invited Farm Credit institutions from across the country to demonstrate on video what sets their rural lending cooperative apart. All submissions were viewed by a panel of judges from national agricultural organizations.

As the winner, Texas Farm Credit received $10,000 to donate to the charity or community organization of its choice. The co-op asked the Schlomchinskis to select where the money would be donated. They chose to give half to the SHSU Department of Agricultural Sciences, and the other half will be donated to the Atascosa County Junior Livestock Show and the Pleasanton Young Farmers.

“The legacy of the Slomchinski family parallels the core values of our department,” said Dr. Stanley Kelley, professor in SHSU’s Department of Agricultural Sciences. “For 109 years, our university has been educating young people in farming techniques and management skills in animal husbandry while embracing changes in society, technology and science. We are very appreciative of these funds, which will directly influence the quality of education for our students by enriching their learning environment.”

The Slomchinskis and their loan officer, Sarah Franklin, have been invited to join Farm Credit leaders in Washington, D.C., this summer to share their story with policymakers and stakeholders.

Bill and Brett grow peanuts and cotton and run a cow-calf operation near Pleasanton in South Texas, on property that has been in their family for 120 years. Bill is a member of the Texas Peanut Producers Board of Directors.

Texas Farm Credit finances agricultural operations, agribusinesses, homes and rural real estate, and offers a variety of insurance services. Headquartered in Robstown, Texas, it serves 100 Texas counties and is part of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of rural lending cooperatives established in 1916.