The board of directors at Southern AgCredit, a rural lending cooperative, returned a record-breaking $12.4 million in cash patronage to its customer-owners in late February.         

The customer-owned cooperative shares its surplus earnings with borrowers once capital requirements for future lending are met. The patronage dividend returned to customers has effectively reduced the interest rate paid by each borrower, on average, by 1 percentage point.

“Patronage is a substantial benefit of being a customer-owner at Southern AgCredit,” said Scott Bell, Southern AgCredit’s board chairman. “The success of our co-op translates to the success of our borrowers and the board is proud to put money back into the pockets of the customer-owners we serve.”