Farm Credit of the Virginias Releases 2019 Annual Report
In April, Farm Credit of the Virginias published its 2019 annual report. The 2019 report highlights strong financial positioning and the association-wide increased internal focus to ensure the continued long-term health and financial soundness of Farm Credit of the Virginias.
The report discloses Farm Credit of the Virginia’s 2019 financial performance. Farm Credit of the Virginias reported a net income totaling $46 million, $5.7 million above budget projections. This year’s overall net income was lower than 2018 by approximately $6.6 million due to receiving $3.5 million less in special patronage from AgFirst Farm Credit Bank, $1.7 million less from interest income from non-accrual loans, and $1.2 million less from the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation. Due to the internal focus and retooling of credit practices, the association did not keep up with the amortization of its existing loan portfolio, as such, the year-end loan volume of $1.79 billion, saw a decrease of more than 3% over last year.
Each year, the Farm Credit of the Virginias 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 to members as possible. In April 2019, the association distributed a record-setting patronage dividend resulting from the strong financial positioning of 2018. Farm Credit of the Virginias delivered $40 million to customer-owners in Virginia, West Virginia, and western Maryland in 2019.
Chief Financial Officer, Justin Weekly, shared, “As many within the agriculture industry experienced continued stress in 2019, we are proud to be a reliable source of funding and other resources to our borrowers and members of the communities we serve. Returning $40 million in patronage to our member owners is a testament to our successful cooperative model and the strength of our association.”
Interim Chief Executive Officer, Robert Frazee, added, “We’re fortunate to face the challenges of COVID-19 from a position of financial strength. We’re especially mindful that our mission, our commitment to our members, is more important now than ever. We’ll be good stewards of the financial resources our members have trusted us with and use them, constructively, to be by their side as we share the journey of dealing with COVID-19.”
Farm Credit of the Virginia’s 2019 annual reports were mailed to each stockholders and customer-owners at the end of March. To view the report, visit farmcreditofvirginias.com/about/financial-reports.aspx
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.