RIDGELAND, Miss. — For Southern AgCredit, a rural financing cooperative serving agriculture in Mississippi and Louisiana, 2017 was a record year. The borrower-owned co-op reported record income and loan volume, and declared a record patronage payment on its 2017 earnings.

At year-end 2017, Southern AgCredit had $1.07 billion in assets, compared with $1.02 billion in assets at year-end 2016.

Southern AgCredit’s net income totaled $18.04 million for 2017, an increase of 9.7 percent from $16.44 million the previous year. Loans totaled $1.02 billion at Dec. 31, 2017, compared with $968.80 million a year earlier. The credit quality of the loan portfolio remained exceptionally strong, with over 99 percent of all loans rated acceptable.

“The board and staff of Southern AgCredit are extremely proud of our co-op’s strong performance and growth last year. But we’re even more pleased that we were able to return $9.5 million — over half of our 2017 earnings — as cash patronage to our customer-owners in February,” said Southern AgCredit Chief Executive Officer Joe Hayman.

“In spite of rising interest rates and thin profit margins in several sectors of the agricultural economy, our customers diligently met their debt obligations and are now benefiting from the cooperative’s success,” he said.

Download the Southern AgCredit 2017 Annual Report

How to Read the Report

In recent years, annual reports have become more and more detailed as reporting standards have become more complex under federal regulations. However, if you don’t have time to read the entire report, you can hit the highlights:

• Start with the summary page to find out if the co-op grew or made money.
• Read the letter to stockholders, which typically describes important events and themes from the past year and lays out strategies for the future.
• Check the auditor’s report to see if an outside firm issued a clean, unqualified opinion.
• Read the first few notes to the financial statements that describe the business and its accounting policies.

About Southern AgCredit

Southern AgCredit is a full-service rural lender specializing in financing rural land and agricultural operations. Headquartered in Ridgeland, Miss., the cooperative operates nine local branch offices in southern Mississippi and northern Louisiana. It is a member of the nationwide Farm Credit System, the nation’s oldest and largest source of loans for agriculture, agribusiness, rural real estate and country homes.

Are you interested in rural or agribusiness lending from Southern AgCredit? Fill out a Loan Inquiry form, and we’ll be right in touch with you.