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Patronage Program
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$1,014,000,000
Total cash dividends paid since 2002
Patronage
Distribution (in millions) & Basis Points (BPS)
BPS 150 $ 185 / 2020
BPS 100 / $ 122 2019
BPS 100 $ 115.7 / 2018
BPS 75 82.7 /
$ 2017
BPS 75 $ 79.5 / 2016
Supporting Our Customers in Good Times and Bad
In summer 2020, as the initial shutdowns began significantly impacting Farm Credit West customerowners, the Association’s Board of Directors voted in late June to distribute a mid-year patronage dividend to qualifying borrowers. The dividend was a partial advance payment of the 2020 end-of-year distribution and was a first in the patronage program’s 18-year history.
“Everybody was just trying to hold on [at that time],” said Farm Credit West Board Chair, Sureena Bains Thiara. “This was in alignment with what we’ve always done—stick with our borrowers through thick and thin.”
Building on that momentum, in December 2020, the Board took another historic vote: to distribute a patronage dividend to customer-owners equal to 150 basis points (bps), or 1.5% of eligible average outstanding loan balances. Distribution of the additional 100 bps cash patronage was planned for February 2021.
“The dramatic events of 2020 imposed significant challenges to our customer-owners throughout our chartered service area, none of which could have been anticipated,” Bains Thiara said. “While growers and agribusinesses are very familiar with managing the unpredictable, as a member-owned Association we felt it was our duty to do everything in our power to support our customers during these challenging times.”
The combined 150 bps patronage distribution for 2020 represents the highest payout Farm Credit West
customer-owners have received since the program’s inception in 2002. In each of the years 2018 and 2019, Farm Credit West distributed 100 bps in patronage dividends to customers.
“Farm Credit West took unprecedented action to support customers in 2020,” Bains Thiara said. “Thanks to our incredible customer-owners, executive team and staff, our organization remains healthy, and we are in a strong position to continue supporting our customers into 2021 and the future.”
Since the patronage program’s beginning 18 years ago, Farm Credit West has paid over $1 billion in cash dividends to customer-owners.£
As a member-owned Association, we felt it was our duty to do everything in our power to support our customers during these challenging times.”
SUREENA BAINS THIARA, FARM CREDIT WEST BOARD CHAIR
‘PULLING’ FOR GOOD
As a feedlot manager, Steve Snow knows from experience the best way to manage disease is to separate the sick from the healthy. But COVID-19 presents one major problem: sometimes the virus’ hosts are asymptomatic, making testing the only sure-fire way to know whether someone is infected.
That’s why Steve, the general manager for Phillips Cattle/Agri-Feed Industries in Imperial, California, pushed to get COVID-19 testing more accessible in his rural, largely agricultural area.
“A lot of testing sites closed down after the first wave of cases subsided in the spring of 2020, because case counts were so low,” Steve said. “At one point the closest testing site was in Indio, an hour away, which was tough on my operation and became a deterrent to my staff getting tested. I knew I wasn’t the only operator in this position.”
Steve worked with Jeff Lamoure, deputy director of the Imperial County Health Department, who used his connections with the California Department of Food and Agriculture to secure a mobile testing site for their county. The bus with testing equipment travels to different agricultural operations each week, allowing for frequent and regular testing for those in the agricultural community.
Steve is so committed to the testing process, he loans one of his employees, a paid intern from Cal Poly, for a few hours each day to help coordinate the activity.
“It’s how we manage our cattle: get the sick away from the healthy,” he said. “We call it a pull. We treat those infected earlier that way, so they get better instead of letting it get too far.”
Steve added that in some ways, his workers are more at risk than others because nearly half of them cross the border to Mexicali every night, where many live in multigenerational homes. Steve has witnessed the virus first-hand: a feed truck driver was fully symptomatic and was off work for weeks, while one of his older customers died after testing positive for COVID-19.
“This is a vicious disease,” he said. “It’s not the flu. The only tools we have are testing, gloves and hand sanitizer.” £
One thing is for certain...
Farm Credit West is committed to our customers’ success. We’ve been there every step of the way for over a century, and 2020 was no exception. This guiding principle will continue to direct the future of our Association as we move forward — together — with our customers.
