Proud to Be a Cooperative

The United Nations has declared 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives. The slogan chosen to commemorate the year explains the reason: “Cooperative Enterprises Build a Better World.” It’s clear that they recognize something we have known all along: The cooperative model works and is beneficial for its member-owners.

The U.N. chose to celebrate cooperatives because they are a people-centered approach to economic development around the world. People are always at the center of the cooperative model.

The same is true at AgriLand. Our customer-owners are the reason we exist. We have a mission to provide reliable financing to creditworthy borrowers in agriculture and rural America. It’s a commitment we take very seriously, because we value the role that our farmers and ranchers play in feeding our nation and the world.

As I mentioned in the last issue of Landscapes, this year marks the 95th anniversary of the Farm Credit System. The System was based on the co-op model, and that unique, member-owned approach has proven strong and resilient for almost a century now. It will continue to serve us well as we face new challenges, such as the drastic weather-related difficulties many of our customers encountered this year.

2011 has been a rather good year for most of our dairy operators. Milk prices have improved to a level that has allowed most operators to generate a profit. And, because of our cooperative environment, AgriLand has been able to provide some of the lowest interest rates in decades. Despite this favorable rate environment, nursery operators continue to struggle with profitability due to the weakened economic environment in the housing industry.

No matter what we face, we can trust that our cooperative structure will serve us all well. We will join with other co-ops to celebrate cooperatives next year, but we don’t need a U.N. declaration to give us reason to be proud of our history and our structure. We know that it works, and we look forward to always sharing our triumphs and success with each of our customer-owners. Thank you for the role you play in making our co-op great!

Sincerely,

Roger Brist
Chief Executive Officer
AgriLand Farm Credit
903.593.0151