CEO & Chair Letter

Serving Your Credit Needs, Invested in Your Communities

On behalf of our Board of Directors and our team members, thank you for your business and involvement in this cooperative. Farm Credit Mid-America’s commitment to our customer-owners remains strong through every economic cycle. We are well led by those who know and understand farming and rural living best: our board members who are elected by you.

Customer-Centric, Financially Strong

Keeping our customers at the heart of everything we do has helped us exceed our financial goals. We ended the year at $35.1 billion in total earning assets owned and managed (2.8% greater than planned), $457.3 million in net income (14.8% greater than planned), with a capital ratio of 16.6%.

Our strong capital position, combined with our diverse portfolio, allowed us to return $208.3 million – the largest amount we have ever distributed – to patronage-eligible customers.* Our customers have received an average 1.5% of their average daily loan balance back in cash over each of the last three years through our Patronage program.

From this place of strength, we are well positioned to continue to serve your credit needs through all agricultural and financial cycles with products designed to meet the needs of our customer-owners and rural communities.

Committed to Local Communities

We invested $2.8 million in programs, scholarships and partnerships that support the next generation of agriculture and help build stronger, more viable rural communities. This included partnering with youth organizations, industry leaders and local commodity groups across Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. In addition to supporting 2,367 FFA degrees, we also recognized 12 FFA chapters for implementing innovative agricultural solutions in their communities through the FFA Youth Innovators Program. We also supported 15 4-H state programs and invested $308,500 in young and beginning farmers.

Scholarships are another way that we seek to prepare today’s youth to become tomorrow’s agricultural leaders. This year we awarded 94 scholarships totaling $362,661 to students pursuing degrees in agriculture or careers related to rural communities.

Our team members also volunteered with Farms to Food Banks across our four states to provide fruits and vegetables to feed families in need through local food banks. These efforts supplemented more than 510,000 meals.

When natural disasters devastated our customers’ farms and homes leaving their properties unrecognizable, we joined with other cooperatives and community members to respond with support, volunteering our time and donating a total of $25,000.

Preparing for the Future

In June, our Board of Directors announced our intention to merge with Farm Credit Midsouth. At that time, the merged association would yield approximately $36 billion in total owned and managed assets and serve more than 137,000 customers in 391 counties across six states. In December 2022, the Farm Credit Administration (FCA) gave preliminary approval for the merger, and our customer-owners and Farm Credit Midsouth’s customer-owners approved it via a stockholder vote in February 2023. At the time this annual report went to print, our cooperatives were in a 35-day reconsideration period and awaiting final approval from the FCA, with a target effective date of April 1, 2023.

Our customer-owners re-elected three board members who will continue to serve in their positions for the next four years: Todd Clark, Lowell Hill and Stephanie “Steph” Hopper.

Our teammates are driven by our purpose to secure the future of rural communities and agriculture and we are honored that you trust us with your business.

*Patronage is an annual decision made by the Board of Directors to return earnings to eligible customers.