Farm Credit of the Virginias Issues $35 Million in Patronage Cash Refund Checks to Customer-Owners
Farm Credit of the Virginias (FCV), a customer-owned lending institution serving Virginia, West Virginia, and western Maryland, will deliver patronage dividends to customer-owners totaling $35 million in April.
FCV’s unique cooperative framework affords the association to return a portion of its profits to customer-owners on a yearly basis, effectively lowering their cost of borrowing. The organization’s Board of Directors approves an appropriate level of patronage dividends, carefully balancing the operational goals of the cooperative with the desire to return as much cash patronage as possible.
Due to the association’s strong financial performance in 2019, the board voted to issue $35 million in cash dividends this season. This year’s $35 million in total patronage distribution equates to having an interest free loan for four months and represents approximately 34% of the interest accrued on loans.
Since 2001, FCV has paid more than $318 million in patronage dividends to its customer-owners.
Interim CEO, Robert Frazee, shared, “We’re pleased to be able to once again share our profits with our customer-owners, especially in times when returning and reinvesting money in our rural communities is so important.”
Frazee continued, “We’re committed to being here for our customer-owners when they need us, and as they need us. This patronage payment is our way of saying we’re here and we’re going to keep working to make sure that we’re here for them, through good times and bad. It’s just one of the benefits of trusting their business needs with a lender that they own.”
About Farm Credit of the Virginias
Farm Credit of the Virginias provides over $1.8 billion dollars in financing to more than 11,000 farmers, agribusinesses and rural homeowners throughout Virginia, West Virginia and western Maryland. Farm Credit is a cooperative capitalized largely through investments made by farmers, ranchers and the rural homeowners and businesses that borrow from them. In fact, as part of a nationwide network they are the largest single provider of agricultural credit in the United States and have been for over 100 years. Farm Credit helps maintain and improve the quality of life in rural America and on the farm through its constant commitment to competitive lending, expert financial services and for facilitating and sharing knowledge and resources through the Farm Credit Knowledge Center. For more information, visit www.FarmCreditKnowledgeCenter.com or www.FarmCreditofVirginias.com.