Delmar K. Banner

Del Banner earned degrees in Agriculture (BS 1967) and law (J.D. 1971) from the University of Illinois. After service with the US Air Force Reserve, Del began his legal career with the Federal Intermediate Credit Bank of St. Louis. There he rose through General Counsel to Senior Vice President of Operations and was assigned to Washington DC, where, as special counsel to the Farm Credit Administration, he was the principal author of the Farm Credit Act Amendments of 1980. On Wall Street, he chartered the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation that annually markets hundreds of billions of dollars in Farm Credit debt to the investing public worldwide. Del conceived, created and was selected as the first President and CEO of The Farm Credit Council, the Washington – based federated trade association representing Farm Credit Banks and Associations nationwide. In that capacity he served as principal spokesman and legislative manager for the nation’s largest provider of capital to US agriculture through the difficult period of the early to mid 1980’s and the Farm Credit Act Amendments of 1985.

From Washington D.C., Del returned in 1986, with his wife, Kay, daughter Annie, and son, Josh, to Fisher to join the family farm operation, to practice law and, for nearly 20 years, serve as Adjunct Professor of Agricultural Law and Finance at the University of Illinois. His teaching assignments included Agricultural Law, Environmental Law and Policy and Veterinary Jurisprudence. There he founded and served as Principal in the National Center for Farm and Rural Business Finance. For USAID, Del chartered the first two agricultural finance cooperatives in the Republic of Georgia and authored a law on agricultural cooperatives in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Del is a partner in the Champaign, Illinois law firm of Lietz Banner Ford LLP with concentration in the law related to agriculture and its financing, including agribusiness, cooperatives, other not-for-profits, estate and business planning. He is a principal author of Illinois Amendments to Article Nine of Uniform Commercial Code and the Illinois Grain Code. A frequent lecturer to audiences of farmers, lawyers and lenders, he has conducted seminars in the areas of agricultural law, finance and estate planning in 20 states.
Active in leadership and teaching at the Gibson City Bible Church, Del has planned and led numerous missions to Copper Island off the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia and to India. These are in addition to assignments to assess feasibility and identify best practices for Christian Microfinance Ministries on site in Kazakhstan and Bangladesh. He has served on the boards of the American Agricultural Law Association, The Master’s Mission, and the Wilderness Retreat Society of Canada, a Christian mission to First Nation peoples of British Columbia. He is the founder and chairman of the board of Friends of IERF International, a US mission board to support the ministry of India Evangelistic Relief Fellowship in Ongole, India, a Christian witness to orphans, widows, the imprisoned and impoverished people in the Indian state of Andra Pradesh. Del served as counsel for the formation of the Fisher Community Foundation for Educational Enhancement and as counsel to the Foundation.

Del continues to operate the home farm where he and Kay reside. They have five granddaughters (Annie) on the farm and a grandson (Josh) in Holland, Michigan.

B.S. University of Illinois 1967
J.D. University of Illinois 1971
General Counsel, Sr. VP of Operations -Federal Intermediate Credit Bank of St. Louis
Principal Author of the Farm Credit Act Amendments of 1980
President and CEO of The Farm Credit Council-Washington D.C.
Adjunct Professor of Ag Law and Finance at U of I 1986-2006
Partner in the law firm of Lietz, Banner, Ford LLP
Gibson City Bible Church and Mission Leader to British Columbia, India, Kazakhstan, and Bangladesh
Founder and Chairman of the Board of Friends of India Evangelistic Relief Fellowship International