As a third generation cattle and crop farmer in Englewood, Tennessee, Perry Philpott has lived the ups and downs of agriculture and knows firsthand the needs of farmers for a flexible and supportive lender.
That's why Philpott said he belongs to Farm Credit Mid-America, a cooperative that serves farmers and rural residents in Tennessee and a handful of other states. As a cooperative, Farm Credit has distributed part of its annual profits over the past eight years, and Philpott is among Tennessee farmers who shared in $36 million of patronage payments last month from the co-op.
Philpott, a 43-year-old farmer who began working with his dad on the family farm when he was 7 years old, said farming and feeding America has been addictive for him, and he said Farm Credit has offered the flexibility and payment options suited for loans needed for planting crops and investing in machinery for today's farms.
"It's been a big help to many farmers," he said.
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Philpott said his annual patronage payment helped him repair a storm damaged building in the past year. Philpott serves on the Advocate Council for Farm Credit Mid-America. The council is comprised of a variety of customer-owners who represent rural communities and provide Farm Credit Mid-America with greater visibility into farmers' challenges and operational needs.
Across the six states served by Farm Credit Mid-America, the co-op has returned $1.25 billion to its members over the past eight years in sharing a portion of Farm Credit's earnings. The money was paid out in mid-March this year during National Agriculture Week.
"Patronage week is an exciting time for our customers and our team members to celebrate the benefits of belonging to a cooperative," Jason Alexander, senior vice president of agricultural lending for Tennessee, said in an announcement of this year's payouts. "We care about our customers' success, and being able to celebrate that drives us to do the work we do every day. The heart of our success is in family and relationships, and we get up every morning to make that a reality."
Farm Credit's board votes every year to approve the patronage payments. The amount of patronage that eligible customer-owners receive is proportionate to their level of transaction of eligible business with the cooperative during 2023.
"In a time of higher interest rates, patronage checks arrive at a critical time of the year and bring value to operations," said Tara Durbin, the chief lending officer for Farm Credit Mid-America.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6340.