Farm Credit Services of America returns $3.6 million in dividends to area farmers

Farm Credit Services of America (FCSAmerica) has announced that eligible customer-owners in Allamakee, Chickasaw, Clayton, Fayette Howard and Winneshiek will receive checks this month totaling $3,574,000 - their share of the financial cooperative’s $160 million cash-back dividend for 2015.
FCSAmerica has distributed a portion of its net earnings to eligible customer-owners for each of the past 12 years, returning $1.15 billion in cash-back dividends to farmers, ranchers and their rural communities. The share of FCSAmerica’s 2015 dividend returned to Iowa customer-owners amounts to $67.4 million.
“Cash-back dividends demonstrate the power of ownership that comes with our unique business model,” said Ron Eichmeier, vice president of FCSAmerica’s Decorah office. “The earnings that we retain ensure FCSAmerica has the financial strength to remain a reliable and dependable lender in good and tough times. The remainder is returned to our customer-owners, to benefit their operations and rural communities.”
Each eligible customer’s cash-back dividend is based on the average loan volume during the calendar year. The more eligible loan business customers have with the cooperative, the more they benefit financially through cash-back dividends.
The FCSAmerica Board of Directors approves each year’s cash-back distribution in December based on a number of factors, including the cooperative’s financial performance. During the 12 years that FCSAmerica has distributed cash-back dividends, net income has grown to $514 million from $294 million and members’ equity has increased to $4.3 billion from $1.5 billion.
For more information on the 2015 cash-back dividend, including distributions, visit powerofownership.com.