The Roanoke branch of Farm Credit of the Virginias (FCV), a customer-owned financial cooperative with more than 100 years of support for rural communities and agriculture, announced they paid nearly $1 million in cash to their customer-owners in the form of a patronage dividend.
FCV’s cooperative framework allows the Association to return a portion of its profits back to customer-owners on an annual basis. During 2024, agricultural producers and rural homeowners faced another year of challenges with economic uncertainty, high interest rates and severe weather events. Fortunately, FCV maintained a strong financial position, so their board of directors elected to return over 80% of net profits to their customer base through the patronage refund program. The Association hopes that this refund will enable customer-owners to feel more equipped to navigate continued economic challenges affecting the agricultural industry and rural communities.
The patronage program effectively lowers the cost of borrowing from FCV. This year’s $33 million distribution equates to having an interest-free loan for approximately three months and represents approximately 26% of the net interest accrued on loans. In total, the Association has returned more than $498 million to its members since 2001. FCV’s CEO, Brad Cornelius, said, “We’re glad to be able to return crucial dollars to our customer-owners and reinvest money in our rural communities through our patronage refund program.”…