• Agriland Reports Strong Loan Growth for the First Quarter
  
  TYLER, Texas - AgriLand Farm Credit, ACA, a local rural financing cooperative, recently reported strong loan growth and earnings for the first quarter of 2008.
  
  

  Loan volume for the quarter increased by 4.5 percent from $337.4 million reported at December 31, 2007, to $352.7 million at March 31, 2008. This is a 7.5 percent growth from a year earlier, when loan volume totaled $327 million.
  
  Net income for the first three months of 2008 was $573,000, which includes a large provision for loan losses, which offsets final net earnings. First quarter earnings were down from the first quarter of 2007, due to a provision established on a large participation loan. 
  
  “In April, AgriLand distributed $3.9 million in patronage to customers based on 2007 earnings. Since 1994, we have distributed a portion of our earnings as patronage. This is a tradition that we value as a customer-owned cooperative, and which we are committed to continuing,” said AgriLand CEO Roger Brist.
  Headquartered in Tyler with 10 branch offices throughout East and Northeast Texas, AgriLand is the largest Farm Credit lending cooperative serving this region. Lending offices are located in Athens, Bonham, Clarksville, Fairfield, Gainesville, Nacogdoches, Paris, Sulphur Springs, Tyler and Beaumont.
  
  AgriLand finances farms and ranches, land real estate, country homes, equipment purchases, agribusiness firms, and agricultural and livestock operations. It is part of the nationwide Farm Credit System.
  

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• Agriland Reports Strong Earnings, Large Patronage Refund
  
  TYLER, Texas - AgriLand Farm Credit, ACA, a local rural financing cooperative, recently reported outstanding 2007 financial results, highlighted by strong earnings of nearly $4.8 million and a hefty patronage refund.
  
  

  As a result of the strong earnings last year, AgriLand achieved an 11.5 percent return on average stockholders’ equity and will return $3.9 million in earnings to customers in the form of patronage.
  
  The AgriLand Farm Credit Board of Directors approved the patronage distribution, which consists of $.7 million in cash and $3.2 million in allocated equities scheduled for disbursement in April.  
  
  AgriLand is the only farm credit association in Texas that has continuously offered patronage refunds to customers since 1996. Patronage refunds effectively lower the interest rate paid by the co-op’s borrowers.
  
  “Our mission is to enhance the economic health of agriculture and rural America communities through constructive financing of their needs.  We accomplish this with quality service and competitive interest rates.  Our patronage program is an additional benefit to our customers. “, said AgriLand Chief Executive Officer Roger Brist.
  
  At December 31, 2007, AgriLand reported loan volume of $336 million, up $24 million from the $313 million reported at year-end 2006. This 7 percent increase in loan growth is attributed to new business.  And the quality of AgriLand’s loan portfolio also remained extremely strong in 2007. In 2007, AgriLand implemented enhancements to its operations to reinforce its commitment to customer service. “Customers will begin to realize the benefits of these enhancements throughout 2008 and future years,” Brist said.
  
  AgriLand Farm Credit, ACA is a $353 million customer-owned cooperative established in 1933. Headquartered in Tyler with 10 branch offices throughout East and Northeast Texas, AgriLand is the largest Farm Credit association serving this region. Lending offices are located in Athens, Bonham, Clarksville, Fairfield, Gainesville, Nacogdoches, Paris, Sulphur Springs, Tyler and Beaumont.
  
  AgriLand finances farms and ranches, land real estate, country homes, equipment purchases, agribusiness firms, and agricultural and livestock operations. It is part of the nationwide Farm Credit System.
  
  
  

• Agriland Scholarship Program - 05/01/08
  
  TYLER, Texas - AgriLand Farm Credit, ACA, offers annual scholarships to local high school graduates. This year's application process is now closed.
  
  DOWNLOAD APPLICATION
  
  
  
• AgSweep Express: A New Cash Management Solution
  
  No more worries about overdrafts on your bank account and no more idle balances--it's an ideal banking combination that is available through AgSweep Express, a new product offered by AgriLand Farm Credit and Wachovia Bank.
  
  With AgSweep Express, your bank account is linked to your line of credit. Your balance is kept constant each day. If you do not have enough funds in the account to cover your expenses, Wachovia will automatically draw money from your line of credit loan with AgriLand. If you have excess cash that day, it will pay money toward your loan.
  
  In other words, you have less to worry about and your money is always working for you.
  
  "AgriLand already offered AgSweep, which is very beneficial for customers with large businesses that have numerous cash transactions every day," says Roger Brist, AgriLand chief executive officer. "But we also saw the need for a lower-cost, streamlined version that would be useful to customers who have fewer banking requirements. That's why we now offer AgSweep Express."
  
  AgSweep Express allows for bill-paying and QuickBooks downloads. It also provides the ablity for you to view your account activity, view check images, link personal accounts, receive market alerts, view bank statements and make deposits via remote deposit scanner.
  
  
  
  
• Agriland Launches Bond Program
      Aims to Enhance Quality of Life in Rural Communities
  
  Farmers and ranchers rely on the economic vitality of their rural communities for off-farm jobs, markets, farm-related businesses and public services for their families. Unfortunately, rural communities are often underserved by traditional sources of capital.
  
  That is why AgriLand has launched the Rural America Bond Program. This new program is designed to help meet the growing and changing needs of agricultural enterprises and rural communities by providing a flow of money to rural areas.
  
  Under this new program, AgriLand may invest in activities that sustain, revitalize and develop rural communities by underwriting bonds on qualifying products. Rural America Bonds are a timely and alternative source of financing for rural communities, with an economic development focus.
  
  Qualifying Projects
  AgriLand can invest in two major types of projects: those that support rural commnities and those that support agriculture and agribusiness.
  
  Some eligible purpose include:
  
  --Infrastructure for agricultural production, such as a farmers' market or grain-storage facilities
  --Commercial enterprises that create or maintain jobs in rural areas
  --Essential community services, such as public administrative facilities like police and fire halls, schools, hospitals
     and other health-care facilities
  --Rural housing for low- and moderate-income families
  --Agribusinesses, regardless of throughput or ownership
  --Alternative energy
  --Rural community redevelopment and revitalization projects
  
  For the purposes of the Rural America Bond Program, a rural area is defined as an area outside a standard metropolitan statistical area or within a community that has a population of 50,000 or less.