About Farmer Mac
Created in 1988, the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation, or Farmer Mac, provides a secondary market for agricultural real estate mortgage loans, rural housing loans, and rural cooperative loans.
It enhances the ability of lenders to efficiently offer competitive financing to rural borrowers and farmland investors. It increases the availability of long-term credit at stable interest rates for America's rural communities, and it provides greater liquidity and lending capacity for lenders to farmers and ranchers.
As a stockholder-owned, federally chartered corporation, Farmer Mac combines private capital and public sponsorship to serve its mission. These are Farmer Mac's primary activities:
- Purchasing eligible loans directly from lenders
- Providing financing for lenders and farmland investors by purchasing obligations secured by eligible loans and investments
- Securitizing assets and guaranteeing the timely payment of principal and interest on the resulting securities (These securities represent interests in, or obligations secured by, pools of eligible loans.)
- Issuing long-term standby purchase commitments for eligible loans
Securities guaranteed by Farmer Mac may be retained by the seller of the underlying loans, retained by Farmer Mac, or sold to third-party investors.
Although Farmer Mac is an institution of the Farm Credit System, it is not liable for any debt or obligation of any other System institution. Likewise, no other System institution is liable for any debt or obligation of Farmer Mac.
Lines of business
Farmer Mac offers two lines of business:
- Agricultural finance, which includes Farm & Ranch and Corporate Agrifinance segments
- Rural infrastructure, which includes Rural Utilities and Renewable Energy segments
For a five-year overview of Farmer Mac's financial condition and performance, see Financial data for Farmer Mac.
Loans eligible for Farmer Mac's secondary market
These are the types of loans that are eligible for Farmer Mac’s secondary market:
- Mortgages secured by first liens on agricultural real estate, including part-time farms and rural housing
- Agricultural and rural development loans guaranteed by USDA
- Loans made by lenders organized as cooperatives to finance utilities that provide electricity, telecommunications, water, and wastewater treatment services to rural areas.
