AgFirst

AgFirst Farm Credit Bank is a wholesale funding bank and part of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of borrower-owned lending institutions that provide financial services to agriculture and rural America. AgFirst provides funding and other services to 19 Agricultural Credit Associations (ACAs) located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Puerto Rico. These ACAs, in turn, provide financing to farmers, agribusinesses, and rural homeowners in their respective territories.

AgFirst is headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina. It is governed by a board of directors, composed primarily of representatives from its affiliated ACAs.

AgFirst plays a crucial role in supporting the agricultural economy of the Southeast by ensuring the availability of credit to agricultural producers and rural communities. The bank obtains funds through the sale of Farm Credit debt securities in the national and international capital markets, and then provides those funds to its affiliated ACAs.

As a cooperative, AgFirst operates on the principle of patronage, where borrowers share in the bank's earnings. This structure is intended to provide farmers with access to affordable and reliable credit.