FCA board receives 2025 annual report on the Farm Credit System’s young, beginning, and small farmers’ mission performance
McLEAN, Va., Aug. 13, 2026 — At its monthly meeting today, the Farm Credit Administration board received FCA’s 2025 Annual Report on the Farm Credit System’s Young, Beginning, and Small (YBS) Farmer Mission Performance (PDF).
FCA strongly supports the Farm Credit System’s mission to serve young, beginning, and small (YBS) farmers, ranchers, and producers and harvesters of aquatic products. FCA defines young farmers as those who are 35 years old or younger, beginning farmers as those who have been farming for 10 years or less, and small farmers as those with less than $350,000 in annual gross cash farm income.
Each year FCA collects information from the System on YBS lending and nonlending activities. This information provides insights into a range of services, education, outreach activities, and lending to YBS farmers. A more detailed and comprehensive understanding of the System’s YBS mission activities helps improve the delivery of credit to YBS farmers.
Nonlending results
FCS institutions provide an array of services and outreach that complement or expand lending to YBS farmers and ranchers. These include nonlending capital commitments (leases and investments); financially related services; scholarships; grants; conferences, seminars, and workshops; and marketing and outreach.
The total value of these services in 2025 was $396.4 million. Approximately 88%, or $350.1 million, was for investments and leases. Additionally, approximately $36.7 million was spent on scholarships, grants, and outreach.
Financially related services, including loan guarantee fee payments, financial document preparation fees, appraisal fees, and tax preparation services for YBS farmers and ranchers, accounted for $9.6 million in spending in 2025. Total nonlending dollars increased by 13.8% from 2024, mostly due to increases in investments and guarantee fees paid.
Lending results
System institutions use a specific YBS reporting structure, with banks providing FCA an annual report summarizing YBS lending activities within their districts. Loan volume is reported as current commitment, which is the dollar amount of disbursed funds plus undisbursed commitments eligible to be drawn. In the 2025 reporting instructions, FCA defined the YBS reporting universe of eligible loan and record types to be included in an institution’s lending activity submission. Eligible loan types are real estate mortgages, production and intermediate term, and process and marketing.
In 2025, the System made 310,821 YBS and non-YBS loans, totaling $150.2 billion. At year-end 2025, the System had 1,122,979 outstanding loans totaling $429.3 billion.
Compared with 2024, the number of loans made in 2025 increased 19.7%, and volume of loans made in 2025 increased 14.5%. Outstanding loan counts increased 6.0% and outstanding volume increased 7.0% between year-end 2024 and year-end 2025.
For loans made in 2025, System lending to the seven mutually exclusive YBS categories included 175,068 loans totaling $38.2 billion. At year-end, the number of loans and loan volume outstanding to the seven mutually exclusive YBS categories was 696,419 loans for $131.5 billion.
| Category | Loan counts | Volume in millions | Percent of total loan counts | Percent of total volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Young only | 9,883 | $3,995 | 3.2% | 2.7% |
| Young and beginning | 14,847 | $6,629 | 4.8% | 4.4% |
| Young and small | 6,272 | $683 | 2.0% | 0.5% |
| Beginning only | 10,202 | $6,005 | 3.3% | 4.0% |
| Beginning and small | 30,239 | $7,319 | 9.7% | 4.9% |
| Small only | 74,419 | $9,368 | 23.9% | 6.2% |
| YBS | 29,206 | $4,241 | 9.4% | 2.8% |
| YBS total | 175,068 | $38,239 | 56.3% | 25.5% |
| Non-YBS | 135,753 | $111,977 | 43.7% | 74.5% |
| System total | 310,821 | $150,216 | 100.0% | 100.0% |
In the above table, 2025 lending results varied considerably by number of loans made to YBS and volume of dollars lent to YBS. Looking at loan counts, more than 56% of all loans made were to some combination of young, beginning, and small, with the small only category being the largest percentage at 23.9%, and the young and small category being the smallest percentage of YBS loans made in 2025.
From a loan volume perspective, more dollars were lent to non-YBS farmers and ranchers. Approximately 25% of total dollars lent in 2025 went to a YBS farmer.
| Category | Loan counts | Volume in millions | Percent of total loan counts | Percent of total volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Young only | 33,489 | $10,867 | 3.0% | 2.5% |
| Young and beginning | 52,474 | $18,338 | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Young and small | 24,909 | $2,537 | 2.2% | 0.6% |
| Beginning only | 34,558 | $18,091 | 3.1% | 4.2% |
| Beginning and small | 166,431 | $32,964 | 14.8% | 7.7% |
| Small only | 259,125 | $31,890 | 23.1% | 7.4% |
| YBS | 125,433 | $16,837 | 11.2% | 3.9% |
| YBS total | 696,419 | $131,525 | 62.0% | 30.6% |
| Non-YBS | 426,560 | $297,753 | 38.0% | 69.4% |
| System total | 1,122,979 | $429,278 | 100.0% | 100.0% |
As illustrated in the table above, 62.0% of outstanding loans were to YBS categories. The largest share of outstanding loans was in the small-only category at 23.1%, followed by the beginning-and-small category at 14.8% and the YBS category at 11.2%. Non-YBS farmers and ranchers accounted for about 70% of outstanding loan volume.
Office of Secondary Market Oversight periodic report
During the meeting, the board also received a periodic report from the Office of Secondary Market Oversight, which regulates the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation, also known as Farmer Mac.
Notational votes
Since the July 9 FCA board meeting, the board has taken five notational votes. Notational votes are actions the board takes between board meetings.
- On July 11, the board approved a personnel action.
- On July 20, the board approved a final rule that would amend the categories for high-risk loans contained in 12 CFR § 621.6 by removing troubled debt restructurings.
- On July 28, the board approved a request from Compeer Financial, ACA, to renew its streamlined process to invest in health care-related community facilities in rural areas. This approval continues to allow AgriBank-affiliated associations to submit an abbreviated version of the information required under the 2014 informational memorandum titled, “Guidance for Investment Requests under § 615.5140(e) of the FCA regulations” (PDF). In that same notational vote, the board also authorized Compeer to purchase up to $33 million in bonds to be issued by a healthcare center in rural New York. The approval of the request is subject to conditions and terms specified in the approval letter.
- On July 30, the board voted to approve the agency’s FY 2027 revised budget, the FY 2028 proposed budget, and the reallocation of funds within the FY 2027 budget.
- On August 5, the board approved the minutes of the July 9, 2026, regular board meeting.