First South Farm Credit to Issue 2013 Patronage Checks

Ridgeland, MS – In April, member-borrowers of First South Farm Credit will receive patronage refund checks for 2012, Roger F. Chappell, CEO, announced today.

First South will send over $12 million in checks in April as part of the patronage refund program.

“First South Farm Credit had another successful year in 2012. We are pleased to be able to share our success with our borrowers by putting our profits in their pockets, said Daniel Viator, Chairman of the First South Board of Directors. “This is the eighteenth consecutive year we’ve paid a patronage refund. Over that period of time, First South has declared patronage totaling more than $229 million to be paid to its member-borrowers through patronage refunds and retirements of allocated surplus.”

“When we distribute our profits to our borrowers it reduces their effective cost of borrowing,” Chappell stated, “and it proves there are distinct financial benefits in doing business on a cooperative basis. We give you a competitive interest rate up front then return a portion of our profits back to you through the patronage program.”

First South Farm Credit is a farmer-owned cooperative providing short, intermediate and long-term financing and related services to full- and part-time farmers, agriculture-related businesses and rural residents in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. First South serves 5,000 members with loans outstanding totaling over $1.4 billion through its network of 40 branch offices in its three-state territory.