Agricultural lending cooperative AgWest Farm Credit is distributing cash patronage dividends equal to 1.25 percent of customers’ eligible average daily loan balances in 2022. Eligible customers throughout the West will receive patronage payments totaling $366.5 million.

On Jan. 1, 2023, Farm Credit West and Northwest Farm Credit Services merged to form a new association, AgWest Farm Credit. These legacy associations share a strong history of returning a significant portion of net earnings to customers as patronage dividends, effectively reducing total borrowing costs.

“Despite economic and weather challenges, our customers continue to be great stewards of their businesses and sound risk managers,” said Nate Riggers, AgWest Board Chair. “Their strong performance allows us to maintain our risk-bearing capacity and provide consistent, reliable cash patronage dividends to our customers.”

Mark Littlefield, AgWest President and CEO shared, “Our purpose is to champion agriculture, helping our customers, employees and their communities thrive. One of the ways we do this is through our Patronage Program, a unique benefit of our cooperative structure which provides earnings from our association back to our customer-members and their communities.”

AgWest is a financial cooperative with approximately $30 billion in total assets that provides financing and related services to farmers, ranchers, agribusinesses, commercial fishermen, timber producers, rural homeowners and crop insurance customers in a seven-state territory in the Western United States. AgWest is part of the 107-year-old Farm Credit System – the leading provider of credit to American agriculture. AgWest serves customers in 59 locations throughout the West. For more information, visit agwestfc.com.