A national banking system for financing the activities of farmers and ranchers. Farm Credit Administration Website
a cooperative nationwide system of banks and associations providing credit to farmers and related businesses; originally capitalized by the federal government but now owned by its members and borrowers
A system of federally chartered, but privately owned, banks and associations that lend primarily to agricultural producers and their cooperatives. The System is organized as a cooperative. The System is supervised and regulated by the Farm Credit Administration, an agency in the executive branch of the U.S. government.
A network of cooperatively owned lending institutions and related service organizations serving all 50 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The FCS specializes in providing farm real estate and rural homeowner loans, operating credit, and related services to farmers, ranchers, and producers or harvesters of aquatic products. The FCS may also finance the processing and marketing activities of these borrowers, certain farm-related businesses, and agricultural, aquatic, and public utility cooperatives. It is chartered under authorities in the Farm Credit Act of 1971, as amended, but does not receive any direct government funding. The System provides about one-fourth of the total credit used by U.S. farmers, ranchers, and cooperatives.
The credit institutions established by authority of Congress and which are now farmer-owned; the federal land banks, the federal intermediate credit banks, production credit associations, and banks for cooperatives. The federal government still supervises the system through the Farm Credit Administration.
The government-sponsored enterprise that finances farm loans by selling bonds and notes.
The Farm Credit System (or Farm Credit) is a federally chartered network of borrower-owned lending institutions composed of cooperatively owned banks, associations and related service organizations in the United States. The System was established by Acts of Congress to meet the credit needs of American agriculture and is subject to the provisions of the Farm Credit Act of 1971, as amended. The most recent significant amendment to the Farm Credit Act was the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987.