SANTA ROSA, Calif. — American AgCredit, a farmer-owned financial cooperative, recently announced net income of $98.9 million for the 2014 calendar year along with a cash dividend distribution of $39 million to its shareholders. This compares to net income of $111 million and a cash dividend of $37 million in 2013. American AgCredit has returned over $250 million to its customer-owners since 2005.
“American AgCredit experienced another successful year, and we’re proud to once again pay a strong cash dividend to our customer-owners,” said Byron Enix, president and chief executive officer. “With an increase of 5.2 percent in loan volume, we continue to see solid growth in agriculture. American AgCredit is well positioned to support this growth through our strong capital position and consistent earnings. We are continuously improving our operations to better serve our customers as we strive to be the very best lender to agriculture.”
Loan volume ended the year at $6.36 billion compared to $6.05 billion from a year ago, an increase of $314 million. American AgCredit officials said the cooperative’s capital position continues to be very strong and increased by $92 million during the year to $1.71 billion at Dec. 31, 2014.
“Agriculture has experienced a sustained period of favorable economic conditions during the past few years contributing to the on-going success of the industry. However, the continuing drought conditions in the West are creating some challenges. American AgCredit is honored to serve our customer-owners and will be there to help agriculture meet those challenges,” said Chief Financial Officer Vern Zander.
“As a cooperative, we share our profits with our customer-owners through our patronage program,” added Zander. “This year we’re pleased to return $39 million of cash patronage dividends representing 39 percent of our 2014 net income. This effectively reduces our customers’ interest rates by 0.75 percent.”
American AgCredit serves farmers, ranchers and agribusiness through eight locations, including Great Bend. In addition to customized and competitive loan packages, American AgCredit provides crop insurance, leasing, and appraisal services, and continues its ownership interest in the equipment financing program, AgDirect.