Farm Credit distributes record patronage checks
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Louisville-based Farm Credit Mid-America has announced it will return $230 million in cash patronage to eligible customers this month. The farmer-owned and led cooperative, which serves producers in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, says it is the largest amount ever distributed by the organization.
Patronage is the portion of earnings returned to the customer-owners. The amount paid is proportionate to their level of transaction of eligible business with the cooperative during 2022.
Many of the members use the money to pay down loans, help cover operating costs, and buy new machinery.
The co-op says it has returned more than $1 billion over the past seven years.
“This year we are surpassing $1 billion in total cash patronage returned to our customers since our Patronage Program began in 2016. That’s a very meaningful milestone for our cooperative,” says Dan Wagner, President and CEO of Farm Credit Mid-America. “Patronage allows our customers to share in our success, and this extra capital arrives at an important time of the year.”
Farm Credit says the payments will be distributed next week, coinciding with National Agriculture Week.
In January, Indianapolis-based Co-Alliance Cooperative Inc. issued patronage checks, totaling $45 million, to its owner-members. It called the amount “unprecedented.”