The Farm Credit System is the nation's largest ag lender with $81.21 billion in outstanding non-real estate farm loans and $187.95 billion in real estate farm loans at the end of 2024, more than twice the loans held by ag community banks, according to an analysis from the University of Illinois.
Ag community banks — banking organizations with less than $10 billion in assets — held $36.34 billion in non-real estate farm loans and $46.52 billion in real estate farm loans. Non-agricultural community banks held $18.06 billion in non-real estate farm loans and $40.01 billion in real estate farm loans.
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The study also shows that agricultural and nonagricultural community banks reported higher net interest margins — a measure of a bank’s profitability — than the Farm Credit System over the previous three years. In 2024 the FCS had a net interest margin of 2.41%, while agricultural community banks reported an average of 3.52%, and nonagricultural community banks averaged 3.71%. The FCS NIM calculation is influenced by the spread from both interest and non-interest-bearing sources, unlike community banks, the analysis found.
The FCS is made up of four system banks — CoBank, AgFirst, AgriBank, and the Farm Credit Bank of Texas — and 55 associations.
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