Cooperative has returned $1.3 billion to farmers, ranchers in past 13 years
OMAHA, NEBRASKA – (December 15, 2016) - Farm Credit Services of America (FCSAmerica) approved a 2016 cash-back dividend of $160 million for eligible customer-owners of the financial cooperative. This brings the amount of FCSAmerica profits returned to farmers, ranchers and agri-businesses since to 2004 to $1.3 billion.
“In a challenging agricultural economy like today, it is more important than ever that farmers and ranchers have a lender they can depend on,” said Doug Stark, CEO and president of FCSAmerica. “The 2016 cash-back dividend is a testament to our cooperative’s financial strength and commitment to sharing a portion of our annual profits with our customer-owners.”
The 2016 Patronage Program marks the third consecutive year that the FCSAmerica Board of Directors has approved a cash-back dividend of $160 million.
The Board of Directors considers a number of business and economic factors in determining the amount of each year’s cash-back dividends, including the cooperative’s financial strength. The portion of earnings retained by FCSAmerica are used to build the cooperative’s financial capacity to continue serving agriculture.
The 2016 dividend checks will be mailed to eligible customer-owners in March 2017. Farmers and ranchers use their cash-back dividends from FCSAmerica to invest in their operations and families and to support their rural communities.
About Farm Credit Services of America
Farm Credit Services of America is a customer-owned financial cooperative proud to finance the growth of rural America, including the special needs of young and beginning producers. With $25.8 billion in assets and $4.7 billion in members’ equity, FCSAmerica is one of the region’s leading providers of credit and insurance services to farmers, ranchers, agribusiness and rural residents in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. Learn more at www.fcsamerica.com.
