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A little more than 85 years ago, leaders in rural America
grappled with a desperate need for a reliable, competitive
provider of financing. Working with Congress, these leaders
developed the concept of the Farm Credit System. Chartered by
Congress and started with government seed money, the system
was wisely designed to repay those start-up costs and become
owned by the clients it served, ensuring that it remain
responsive to those clients.
Over the next eight-and-one-half decades, Farm Credit has
quietly become one of the most successful programs of its
type. It has done so by the unwavering commitment to its
mission to help maintain and improve the quality of life in
rural America and on the farm through competitive lending,
expert financial services and advice and a feeling of
partnership with clients.
While some competitors’ lobbyists continually try to spin
doctor Congress into believing Farm Credit has outlived its
purpose, the truth remains that there has never been a time
when rural America needed Farm Credit more.
American families enjoy high-quality, affordable food and
fiber and other agricultural products thanks to the
determination of our nation’s rural community: farm and ranch
families and the related businesses that support agriculture
and our country’s rural infrastructure. You also can add
agriculture’s increasing contribution to our homegrown energy
supply, and the fact that producers and other rural Americans
represent the first line of defense in our efforts to ensure a
safe and secure food supply. They also are in the vanguard of
protecting our environment.
Modern agriculture is a capital-intensive and competitive
business. Farmers, ranchers and those who live and work in
rural America want and need (and deserve) a financial partner
with extensive resources and broad range of services – a
partner that understands both Wall Street and Main Street.
That partner is the client-owned Farm Credit System:
financially strong, competitive, experienced and with the
infrastructure and commitment to help improve the quality of
life in rural America.
Rural America’s
Client-owned
Partner
Distilled to its essence, Farm Credit Services can be
described in five words: client-owned, reliable, competitive,
knowledgeable and passionate. But exactly what do these words
mean?
Client-owned means that we are responsive to the
needs of those we serve; agriculture and rural communities
depend on us for credit and financial services in good times
and bad.
Reliable means we’re there when our clients need
us. We are financially strong – with more than $100 billion in
assets and nearly $16 billion in capital nationally. And we
have a tradition of service that spans generations.
Competitive means that clients have a choice in
meeting their financial and operating needs. Our Government
Sponsored Enterprise (GSE) funding status provides rural
America with a stable, consistent source of credit and
financial services. If Farm Credit Services wasn’t there
providing competition, the average producer would be paying
significantly higher interest rates to other lenders.
Knowledgeable means we understand life in
agriculture and rural America. We only serve agriculture and
rural America. Our people, most with a farm background, are
recognized for their expertise in finance and agriculture.
Most of our financial professionals have degrees in
agricultural disciplines.
Passionate means that Farm Credit people care
deeply about improving the quality of life on the farm and in
rural America. We live in the rural communities we serve.
Serving farm families is why we exist – and why we come to
work every day!
We believe those rural leaders from so
many years ago would be proud of the legacy of their vision
that is embodied in Farm Credit Services. |
