Farm Lending by Credit Unions

Since I'm at ABA's National Agricultural Bankers Conference, I thought it would be appropriate to revisit the issue of agricultural lending by credit unions.

Credit unions have a relatively small piece of the agricultural lending market, but have been growing their agricultural loan portfolios.

According to industry data, there are 289 credit unions that report some form of outstanding agricultural credit on their books as of June 2011. These credit unions have approximately $1.92 billion in outstanding agricultural loans. This includes $1.08 billion in farmland loans and $840 million in farm production loans.

However, only 47 credit unions have a material presence in agricultural lending. Material presence is defined as having at least $5 million in outstanding agricultural loans.

In the first six months of 2011, credit unions originated 6,716 farm production loans worth $437 million and 1,162 farmland loans worth $167.2 million.

The top three states with respect to credit unions making agricultural loans are North Dakota with approximately $527 million in farm credit, Indiana with $500 million in farm loans, and Minnesota with almost $344 million in farm loans on their books.

The credit union with the largest farm loan portfolio is Beacon Credit Union in Indiana at $366.5 million. The following table identifies the 10 credit unions with the largest farm loan portfolios (includes purchased loans or participation interests to nonmembers). Click on the image to enlarge.