NORMAL, ILL. – It was a time when milk cost
14 cents a gallon, Woodrow Wilson won re-election on the
promise to keep the nation out of World War I, and rural
America took a major step forward.
It was 1916, and President Woodrow Wilson
signed the Federal Farm Loan Act, marking the beginning of
the Farm Credit System. This year, the Farm Credit System
celebrates its 90th anniversary.
Today, the Farm Credit System has more than
$106 billion in loans financing agriculture and its related
cooperatives, including 1st Farm Credit Services,
which serves the northern half of Illinois.
"The story of the Farm Credit System is the
story of the American farm family," said 1st Farm
Credit Service President/CEO Gary Ash. "We’re proud to serve
and grow with our clients over the past 90 years. And we
look forward to serving their changing needs for the next
90."
The Farm Credit System, the oldest and largest financial
cooperative in the nation, is a network of 101
borrower-owned lending institutions and related service
organizations serving U.S. agriculture and rural America.
These institutions specialize in providing credit and
related services to farmers, ranchers and producers or
harvesters of aquatic products.
