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Lone Star Ag Credit announced late last year that it had merged with Ag New Mexico Farm Credit.
The new rebranded entity AgTrust Farm Credit will be based in Fort Worth. Joe Hayman will remain CEO.
This merger, which was completed in early December, resulted in a larger and stronger cooperative with approximately $3 billion in total assets and over $450 million of capital. The decision to pursue this merger was unanimous by both associations’ boards of directors, recognizing the potential for growth and diversity through the joint collaboration.
“We see a bright future for the Association and the customer-owners we serve,” Hayman said in a statement. “With roots dating back over 106 years, AgTrust Farm Credit will further its mission to add value to rural communities and support agriculture in the regions we serve.”
AgTrust serves nearly 8,000 stockholders and has around 150 employees. The new association has 19 offices and serves 81 counties throughout Texas and New Mexico. It provides financing tailored to the needs of full and part-time farmers and ranchers as well as agricultural-related businesses and rural landowners.
In addition to Fort Worth, its branch offices across Texas and New Mexico are in Abilene, Albuquerque, Cleburne, Clovis, Corsicana, Denton, Georgetown, Hillsboro, Lampasas, Las Cruces, New Boston, Paris, Roswell, Sherman, Stephenville, Sweetwater, Waco, and Weatherford.
AgTrust Farm Credit is part of the nationwide Farm Credit System, which was established by Congress in 1916 to provide farmers and ranchers with a reliable source of credit during good times and bad. It is a network of borrower-owned lending cooperatives and specialized service organizations that provide credit and related services for agriculture and rural America. Together, they form the largest single source of rural financing in the country.
There are four wholesale Farm Credit banks throughout the nation. Each bank is owned by a group of local retail cooperatives, which in turn are owned by farmers, ranchers, agricultural co-ops, and other eligible borrowers, including agribusinesses, rural landowners, and rural homeowners. AgTrust Farm Credit’s wholesale funding bank is the Farm Credit Bank of Texas.
The wholesale banks receive their funding from the sale of Farm Credit securities in the capital markets. They in turn provide funding to the local retail cooperatives, which make loans to customers in agriculture and rural America. After their customers pay back their loans, the local lending cooperatives repay the banks, which then reissue the funds to investors through the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation.