- Business
- Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac) is a federally chartered, stockholder-owned corporation that serves as a secondary market facilitator for agricultural and rural infrastructure finance in the United States. Founded in 1988 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., Farmer Mac provides liquidity, credit access, and risk management solutions to lenders serving agricultural producers, rural communities, and agribusinesses. Its core products and services include the purchase of agricultural real estate mortgage loans, USDA guaranteed loans, rural housing loans, and loans supporting rural utilities and infrastructure; underwriting and guaranteeing agricultural mortgage-backed securities (AMBS); wholesale financing solutions tailored for agricultural lenders and asset owners; and credit protection products for farm and ranch loans. Farmer Mac's offerings range from short-term revolving lines of credit to long-term fixed-rate loans with terms up to 30 years, covering agricultural mortgage loans, USDA guaranteed loans under programs such as the Farm Service Agency and Rural Development, as well as loans for rural utilities including electricity, telecommunications, water, and wastewater treatment services.
In the past two years, Farmer Mac has notably expanded its securitization activities, completing multiple large-scale transactions to bolster liquidity in the agricultural finance market. The most recent major development includes the successful closure of a $313.5 million securitization of agricultural mortgage-backed securities (AMBS) in December 2025, representing its seventh FARM (Farmer Mac Agricultural Real estate Mortgage) series transaction. This transaction involved 343 agricultural mortgage loans and included a $290 million senior tranche guaranteed by Farmer Mac, reflecting the company's commitment to expanding its securitization platform and enhancing credit accessibility for rural America. The firm also completed a $318.8 million securitization in late 2024, reaffirming its role as a leading issuer in the agricultural mortgage-backed securities market and its strategic focus on increasing the supply of credit to agricultural and rural infrastructure lenders. Additionally, Farmer Mac has announced plans to introduce new products in the upcoming year to meet growing institutional investor demand and further diversify its offerings aligned with its mission. The company maintains a strong position in the agricultural finance sector by combining private capital with public sponsorship to support rural lending and infrastructure development.
Farmer Mac operates primarily within the agricultural finance and rural infrastructure industry segments, targeting agricultural lenders, rural utility providers, and agribusiness entities across the United States. It plays a critical role in enhancing the availability of long-term credit with stable interest rates, thus supporting farm and ranch operations, rural housing, and utility infrastructure in underserved rural communities. The company functions through purchasing loans, guaranteeing securities backed by loan pools, providing loan servicing, and extending standby purchase commitments for eligible loans. Farmer Mac's products help lenders manage risk, replenish capital, and sustain competitive financing options for their rural customers, ultimately supporting sustained agricultural productivity and rural economic development. It works closely with USDA and institutional investors, leveraging its statutory authority to underwrite a broad spectrum of agricultural and rural infrastructure loans that comply with federal standards.
This comprehensive suite of financial products and recent strategic securitization transactions underscore Farmer Mac's ongoing dedication to fulfilling its public mission of improving credit access and liquidity in rural and agricultural markets across the United States.