At a time when no one can seem to agree on much, we all can concede the banking climate was much different five years ago.

Five years ago was pre-Wall Street crash, pre-Dodd-Frank and pre-New Frontier.

And five years ago, a small bank in Greeley, First FarmBank, was born, an institution that has done almost nothing but grow ever since.

In all four of the main categories of lending — real estate, commercial, individual and agricultural — First FarmBank saw a decrease in lending only once in those five years, in commercial lending from mid-2009 to the same period in 2010.

Commercial lending in that timeframe dropped by just over $3 million to $5.6 million. Of course, in the depths of a recession, it only made sense for banks to back away from commercial lending for a bit.

Other than that, the trajectory at First FarmBank has been nothing but up, even through some of the worst banking years our country has ever seen.

Today, the bank is still small, with only one full-service branch and just over $78 million in assets as of June 30.

But First FarmBank also happens to the only bank in Northern Colorado with a perfect Texas Ratio of zero. The Texas Ratio is