Farm Credit Mid-America, an agricultural lender in the nationwide Farm Credit System, announced its 2013 financial results reporting growth in loan volume, assets and earnings.Farm Credit grew loan volume by more than $1 billion to $17.7 billion and saw assets grow by nearly $1 billion to $20 billion, a 5.1 percent increase over 2012. Driven by strong activity in mortgage lending, net income was $308.4 million, which represented nearly seven percent growth over 2012 earnings. “Years with strong net farm income and a well-performing agricultural sector are great for the industry, but can be a challenge when growing a loan portfolio,” said Bill Johnson, president and CEO, Farm Credit Mid-America. “Our continued growth shows that even during good years, farmers wisely seek out lending institutions and financial tools to help them manage long-term risk.”
The association’s portfolio credit quality showed year-over-year improvement, as adversely classified loans decreased to 2.4 percent in 2013, down from 3.4 percent in 2012. The decrease resulted from improved profitability in the livestock and poultry industries as well as improvement in the general economy.
Farm Credit’s capital plan continued to provide security for its members with a 15.9 percent permanent capital ratio, far exceeding regulatory requirements. “Meeting and protecting the current and future interests of our members is important to us and a reason we design our capital plan to maintain a healthy amount of surplus that can be invested back into the association in the form of more competitive interest rates,” said Johnson. “It is through this careful approach to growth that we provide value to existing members and lay the foundation for the association’s future success.”
Farm Credit also maintained its legacy of serving local communities and in 2013 invested more than $2 million in programs championing youth and young farmers, local food production and fighting hunger.
For complete results, view Farm Credit Mid-America’s 2013 Annual Report linked on www.e-farmcredit.com.
