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News Release | NR-25-14-11-13-25

FCA board receives briefing on veterans in agriculture

McLEAN, Va., Nov.13, 2025 — At its monthly meeting today, the Farm Credit Administration board received a briefing (PDF) on the state of veterans in agriculture. It also received a periodic report on the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac).

Veterans in agriculture

This week’s Veterans Day national holiday continued the tradition of honoring the many brave men and women who have served in the military. Following their service, some veterans choose to engage in another honorable and critical profession: agriculture.

According to the most recent Census of Agriculture, conducted in 2022 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), veteran farmers and ranchers (producers) accounted for 9% of all producers, and 15% of farms and ranches had at least one veteran producer. In that same year, farms and ranches with at least one veteran producer accounted for 9% of total U.S. agricultural sales.

Available resources

Many resources are available for veterans in agriculture. The Farm Credit System supports veterans in several ways. Many System associations and banks offer programs, sponsor organizations and events, or conduct outreach and marketing to veteran producers and potential producers. The System also supports organizations such as the Farmer Veteran Coalition and the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Veteran Farmer Award of Excellence.

The federal government offers both military and civilian programs. When service members are preparing to leave the military, the U.S. Department of War provides information and resources through its Transition Assistance Program. In 2015, USDA partnered with the department to add agriculture to that program.

Military service fosters characteristics that can serve veterans well in agricultural careers. Traits such as persistence, adaptability, discipline, attention to detail, a strong work ethic and situational awareness are hallmarks of agricultural producers. Resources for veterans, such as the ones mentioned above, can help them transition from military service to agriculture.

Closed session

In a closed session, the board received a periodic report from staff in the Office of Secondary Market Oversight on the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac).

Notational votes

Since the Oct. 9 FCA board meeting, three notational votes have occurred. Notational votes are actions the FCA board takes between board meetings.

On Oct. 10, the board approved two documents: the Fall 2025 Abstract of the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Abstract), and the Fall 2025 Regulatory Projects Plan.

The information in the abstract will be used in the official Unified Regulatory Agenda, which is published semiannually on the internet at reginfo.gov. The regulatory projects plan describes the regulatory projects scheduled for the next 12 months. The plan will be posted on the agency’s Regulatory projects plan webpage after it has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

On Oct. 24, the board approved a personnel action.

On Nov. 6, the board approved the Office of Secondary Market Oversight’s (OSMO) oversight and examination plan for FY 2026.