RIDGELAND, Miss – The board of directors of Southern AgCredit, a rural lending cooperative, recently declared a $19.7 million patronage on its 2019 earnings. It returned a record $10.1 million in cash to its customer-owners in late-February. The co-op allocated the remaining $9.6 million to customers for future distribution.

“Our strong performance in 2019 drove the largest cash patronage in our history,” Kevin Rhodes, Southern AgCredit board chair said. “This year’s distribution will increase the total amount of patronage we have declared on behalf of our member-borrowers since 1995 to more than $179 million.”

The customer-owned cooperative returns surplus earnings to borrowers after it has met its needs for a strong capital base. The cash patronage returned to customers effectively reduces the interest rate paid by each borrower.

“When we’re successful, our customers benefit – that’s an important benefit of working with a co-op,” Rhodes said.

Southern AgCredit is a full-service co-op lender that specializes in financing rural land and agricultural operations in Mississippi and Louisiana. It is a member of the nationwide Farm Credit System, the nation’s largest source of loans for agriculture, agribusiness, rural real estate and country homes. For more information, visit SouthernAgCredit.com. rural lending cooperative.

Financial results discussed here are preliminary and unaudited. Please visit SouthernAgCredit.com this spring to see our complete results.