(October 27 – 16:35 ET) – This
month Farm Credit Corporation
celebrates a milestone in its
history. The Corporation has been
serving agriculture and rural
Canada for 40 years.
FCC, a federal Crown corporation
and Canada’s largest agricultural
term lender, came into existence on
October 5, 1959, when the Farm
Credit Act was proclaimed into
Canadian law.
Created to replace the Canadian
Farm Loan Board, FCC began with
$8 million in lending authority
from the Government of Canada.
The Corporation was mandated
to provide one product at one
rate first mortgages to farmers
to a maximum loan amount of
$20,000.
During the first 34 years, FCC
and the Farm Credit Act went
through many evolutions to keep
step with the agriculture
industry. In 1968, farming
corporations became eligible for
FCC loans. Loan limits increased
to $150,000 in 1975. In 1982,
amendments to the Act led to the
introduction of more loan products
and FCC made its debut on the
capital markets.
In 1993, the Farm Credit Act was
replaced with the Farm Credit
Corporation Act, which expanded
the mandate of FCC to better
respond to the needs of the
agricultural sector. FCC could
now offer producers financing to
purchase or improve farmland and
buildings, buy personal property
for farming purposes and
consolidate debts.
The Act has helped bring FCC in
sync with the changing marketplace.
FCC’s loan portfolio has grown
from $3.4 billion in 1993, when
the Act was introduced, to $6
billion today. The Corporation has
more than 900 employees that serve
54,000 customers from 110 offices,
primarily located in rural
Canada. FCC’s corporate office is
located in Regina, Saskatchewan.
-IE Staff
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