(a) Business plan requirement. No later than 30 days after the commencement of each calendar year, the board of directors of each Farm Credit System institution must adopt an operational and strategic business plan for at least the succeeding 3 years.

(b) Content of business plan. The plan must include, at a minimum, the following:

(1) A mission statement.

(2) An annual review of the internal and external factors likely to affect the institution during the planning period. The review must:

(i) Incorporate the description and assessment of workforce and management strengths and weaknesses required by paragraph (b)(7)(i) of this section;

(ii) Include an assessment of the needs of the board, including skills and diversity, based on the annual self-evaluation of the board's performance; and

(iii) Include strategies for correcting identified weaknesses.

(3) Quantifiable goals and objectives.

(4) Pro forma financial statements for each year of the plan.

(5) A detailed operating budget for the first year of the plan.

(6) The capital adequacy plan adopted pursuant to §615.5200(b) of this chapter.

(7) A human capital plan that includes, at a minimum, the items specified in this paragraph (b)(7). These items may be contained in other board-approved documents that are adopted annually, provided the items are summarized in, and incorporated by reference into, the human capital plan.

(i) A description of the institution's workforce and management and an assessment of their strengths and weaknesses;

(ii) A description of the institution's workforce and management succession programs; and

(iii) Strategies and actions to strive for diversity and inclusion within the institution's workforce and management.

(8) For each Farm Credit System institution in its exercise of title III lending authorities and direct lender association, a marketing plan that strategically addresses how the institution will further the objective of the Act, set forth in section 1.1(b) of the Act, that the System be responsive to the credit needs of all types of agricultural producers having a basis for credit. The marketing plan must include, at a minimum, the items specified in this paragraph (b)(8). These items may be contained in other board-approved documents that are adopted annually, provided the items are summarized in, and incorporated by reference into, the marketing plan.

(i) A description of the institution's chartered territory by market segment, including the characteristics of demography, geography, and types of agriculture practiced; and

(ii) Strategies and actions to market the institution's products and services to all eligible and creditworthy persons, with specific outreach toward diversity and inclusion within each market segment.

(c) Board reporting requirements.

(1) Each institution must report annually to its board of directors on the progress the institution has made in accomplishing the strategies and actions required by paragraph (b)(7)(iii) of this section.

(2) Each institution subject to paragraph (b)(8) of this section must report annually to its board of directors on the progress the institution has made in accomplishing the strategies and actions required by paragraph (b)(8)(ii) of this section.

[77 FR 25587, May 1, 2012]