Recently retired banking leader Chuck Senter was presented with a 2024 Distinguished Banking Service Award at the 51st Annual Bankers Agricultural Credit Conference in Lubbock. The recognition was presented on Friday (Nov. 15) during an awards presentation at the International Cultural Center on the Texas Tech campus. The distinguished service award is given by the agricultural credit conference to recognize individuals in the banking industry who have made significant contributions to society and whose accomplishments and careers have brought distinctive credit to the financial profession.
- Chuck Senter (Market President Tahoka - Retired | Happy State Bank) | A 1987 graduate of the Davis College Department of Animal & Food Sciences, Senter majored in animal business. The Rolesville, Texas resident retired from the agricultural banking business in 2023. At the time he was serving as Market President Tahoka at Happy State Bank, a position he held since 2022. Prior to that, he was Market Leader at Ag Resource Management (2018-2022). In addition, he was Area President at First Bank & Trust Tahoka (2012-2018) and served as a vice president at City Bank (2005-2012). He is a former board member and president of the Texas Tech Ag Bankers Conference. Senter was born and raised on a ranch and dryland cotton farm on the Dawson/Martin County line, south of Lamesa.
“The Bankers Agricultural Credit Conference provides timely information to community banks on the general economic and agricultural commodity outlook to assist them in making decisions in the coming year,” said Phillip Johnson, chair of Texas Tech’s Department of Agricultural & Applied Economics. Topics have ranged from agricultural lending and the economy to legal and regulatory issues, along with a commodity outlook and other issues of interest to rural bankers and lenders. The conference is directed by a board of directors made up of representatives from area banks.
Among this year’s presentations were Legislative & Regulatory Update | Chris Furlow, President and CEO with Texas Bankers Association in Austin; Agricultural Outlook for Cotton 2025 | Darren Hudson, Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives & Assessment; Agricultural Outlook for Cattle 2025 | Ben Weinheimer, President and CEO with Texas Cattle Feeders Association in Amarillo; and Regional & National Economic Outlook | Stephen Kiser, Senior Business Economist with the FDIC in Dallas.
The keynote speaker for a noon luncheon was Hudson, who also serves as Davis College’s International Center for Agricultural Competitiveness and the Larry Combest Endowed Chair for Agricultural Competitiveness. The afternoon agenda included Agricultural Property Management | Mike Alderman, Specialty Asset Manager with U.S. Bank, Twin Falls, Idaho. The session closed with Agricultural Outlook for Grains 2025 | Mark Welch, Professor & Extension Economist for Grain Marketing with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, College Station
The Bankers Agricultural Credit Conference has been held at Texas Tech for more than half a century and represents an important engagement with rural and agricultural banks that form the backbone of our regional agricultural productivity, added Davis College Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives & Assessment Darren Hudson. It is sponsored by the Texas Bankers Association; Independent Bankers Association of Texas; Ag Resource Management – ARM; US Bank; Excellence In Banking Program – Rawls College; Texas Tech School of Banking – Rawls College; Thornton Agricultural Finance Institute; and the International Center for Agricultural Competitiveness.
CONTACT: Phillip Johnson, chair and director of the Thornton Agricultural Finance Institute, Department of Agricultural & Applied Economics, Texas Tech University at (806) 834-0474 or phil.johnson@ttu.edu
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