Our Great Lakes Food Hub Network visited Iowa County, WI recently. We were especially glad to welcome Leland Strom, Chairman and CEO of the United States Farm Credit Administration to our meeting.
I had a great discussion with Mr. Strom about our work in Iowa County and about the wonderful work emerging across our Great Lakes Food Hub Network. The Strom family farm is in Kane County Illinois, but I learned that they once also farmed land near Mineral Point in Iowa County.
The Farm Credit Administration (FCA) is the independent Federal agency responsible for examining and regulating the Farm Credit System, a Government-sponsored enterprise created by Congress in 1916 to provide American agriculture with a dependable source of credit.
Through its oversight and regulation of the Farm Credit System, FCA helps to ensure a safe, sound, and dependable source of credit and related services for agriculture and rural America.
From their ‘About Us page on the FCA web site:
“The Farm Credit Administration (FCA) is an independent Federal agency that regulates and examines the banks, associations, and related entities of the Farm Credit System (FCS), including the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac).
The FCS is the largest agricultural lender in the United States. It is a nationwide network of lending institutions that are owned by their borrowers. It serves all 50 States and Puerto Rico.
The FCS provides credit and other services to agricultural producers and farmer-owned cooperatives. It also makes loans for the following:
• Agricultural processing and marketing activities
• Rural housing
• Certain farm-related businesses
• Agricultural and aquatic cooperatives
• Rural utilities
• Foreign and domestic companies involved in international agricultural trade
Although FCA is a Federal agency, we are not supported by Federal money; instead, we are funded by assessments paid by FCS institutions.”
We were especially grateful to Mr. Strom for his visit to Iowa County and giving us the opportunity to share information about our projects here and in the region!
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Photo: Leland Strom, Chairman and CEO of the U.S. Farm Credit Administration and Rick. July 2011.
Visit the Farm Credit Administration web site
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