The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac; NYSE: AGM) has named Nader Pasdar as Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer, effective August 17, 2026. Pasdar steps into a role vacated by Zachary N. Carpenter, who moved up to President and CEO on July 1.

The Hire

Pasdar arrives with more than 25 years of agricultural finance and capital markets experience, most recently as Chief Executive Officer of Rabo Securities and Managing Director, Head of Markets North America for Rabobank. In that capacity he oversaw capital markets, sales, trading, business development, and compliance across North America — work that positioned Rabobank as a leading capital markets participant in the North American food and agribusiness sector. Earlier in his Rabobank tenure he was a founding member of the loan syndication team, contributing to hundreds of lead-arranged financings and forging deep ties throughout the Farm Credit System and the broader agricultural lending community.

Why It Matters for Agrifood Finance

Farmer Mac operates as a secondary market for agricultural and rural infrastructure debt, providing liquidity and capital relief to farm lenders, agribusinesses, and rural utilities — a function that sits directly in the credit pipeline supplying the commercial foodservice and food-manufacturing supply chains. The corporation's portfolio spans agriculture, agribusiness, broadband infrastructure, power and utilities, and renewable energy, making the CBO role central to deal origination and lender-relationship strategy.

Carpenter framed the appointment around execution: "His appointment marks an important milestone as we continue evolving to meet the needs of the crucial sectors we serve and position our organization for future growth and success." Pasdar's own commentary pointed to expanding capital access — a priority as farm-level credit conditions tighten and agricultural lenders look to secondary-market tools for balance-sheet management.

For foodservice operators and food manufacturers dependent on a stable agricultural supply chain, the health of rural credit markets is a background variable that influences commodity availability, contract farming capacity, and protein-sector investment. Farmer Mac's liquidity programs underpin many of the farm and agribusiness loans that keep that supply base functioning. Leadership continuity and the addition of a capital-markets specialist with Pasdar's origination track record signals the organization intends to deepen product reach — relevant context for supply-chain stakeholders tracking agrifood credit and for operators monitoring commodity-cost inputs.

Pasdar holds an M.B.A. in finance from Boston University's Questrom School of Business and a B.S. in economics from Temple University.

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.