Ag Lender Announces Millions to be Paid to Farmers via Patronage Program

Farm Credit Mid-America says it will return $210 million to eligible farmers through its Patronage Program.

Leaders say it's the largest amount they have ever distributed and over the last six years, Farm Credit Mid-America has distributed a total of $858.5 million to their customer-owners through Patronage.

"What we get excited about is our shared success," says President & CEO Dan Wagner. "When we're doing great as a cooperative or when our balance sheet is strong, we get to return money back to our customers and it really provides a value proposition in our structure to our customer-owners that's really unique in finance."

The farmer-owned cooperative, says patronage is the portion of earnings that are returned to their customer-owners. Eligible customers receive Patronage that is proportionate to their transaction levels. The money can be used to pay down loans, buy new machinery, offset operating costs or a host of other things. 

"As we've completed our renewals this past year with our customers, their balance sheets continue to look strong, cash positions are strong and so our customers are in really great positions," says Wagner. 

The cooperative says, looking ahead, there are always unknowns but 2022 is off to a good start financially despite headwinds from supply chains, inflation or input costs. Wagner says being able to share money with customers is one of the best parts of his job. 

"The impacts that those dividends mean in their operations and sometimes we have emotional conversations about the [money's] impact and what that means [to their farms]," says Wagner. "It's just so impactful for me in the role that I serve and our purpose of securing the future of rural communities and agriculture that really gets me excited."

For more information about the program, view the guidelines for the 2021 Patronage program (payments received in 2022) and the guidelines for the 2022 Patronage program (payments received in 2023).

Watch the video with President & CEO Dan Wagner above.