Carolina Farm Credit CEO Vance C. Dalton, Jr. is proud to announce that this year, patronage will be returned in the form of an all-cash dividend for the first time.  This April, $12 million will be distributed to members.

The Carolina Farm Credit Board of Directors has voted to move to an all-cash dividend refund.  The cash dividend is a refund of some of the interest that accrued on a customer’s account during the year and lowers their effective interest rate by about one percent.

“Carolina Farm Credit had another successful year in 2015.  We’re pleased to be able to share our success with our borrowers by putting our profits in their pockets,” said Kim Starnes, chairman of the Carolina Farm Credit Board of Directors.  The Board of Directors plans to continue to retire allocated surplus according to their plan in the fall of 2016.  Carolina Farm Credit has declared patronage refunds for 28 consecutive years, and since 1988 patronage refunds have totaled $435 million.

“When we distribute our profits to our borrowers, it reduces their effective cost of borrowing,” Vance C. Dalton, Jr. stated, “and it proves that there are distinct financial benefits in doing business on a cooperative basis.”

Carolina Farm Credit is a stockholder-owned cooperative providing financing to full and part-time farmers and agricultural-related businesses and also provides financing for the construction and purchase of homes in 54 counties through 34 branch offices.  Other financial services available are credit life insurance, appraisal services, leasing programs and financial planning.

For 100 years Farm Credit has been supporting rural communities and agriculture with reliable, consistent credit and financial services.

Carolina Farm Credit serves over 9,200 members with loans outstanding totaling more than $1.4 billion.  The association’s territory covers the western half of North Carolina, with branch offices located in Albemarle, Asheboro, Asheville, Boone, Browns Summit, Burnsville, Carthage, Concord, Conover, Ellerbe, Graham, Hendersonville, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Lenoir, Lexington, Lincolnton, Monroe, Murphy, Pilot Mountain, Roxboro, Rural Hall, Salisbury, Shelby, Siler City, Sparta, Spindale, Statesville, Taylorsville, Wadesboro, Waynesville, Wilkesboro, Yadkinville, and Yanceyville.