Farmers Bet on Rates as MetLife Battles Rural Lenders

"Farmers are taking advantage of a resurgence in government- chartered credit providers and Federal Reserve efforts to stoke the economy by holding the fed funds rate near zero. Competition from private lenders such as MetLife Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) is keeping borrowing costs near record lows as the value of farmland in the third quarter rose as much as 25 percent in the U.S. Midwest, driven by surging sales of corn to ethanol producers and grain exports."