[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 108 (Wednesday, July 6, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1041]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   FARM CREDIT CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. PETER WELCH

                               of vermont

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 6, 2016

  Mr. WELCH. Mr. Speaker, as we near the 100th anniversary of the Farm 
Credit System, I rise today to commend the cooperative owners and the 
employees of the Farm Credit System for their continuing service in 
meeting the credit and financial-services needs of rural communities 
and agriculture.
  I was pleased to cosponsor House Resolution 591, commemorating the 
Farm Credit System's centennial. The Farm Credit System was established 
by Congress through the Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916, signed into law 
on July 17, 1916, by President Woodrow Wilson. Congress designed the 
Farm Credit System as a permanent means to support the well-being and 
prosperity of the Nation's rural communities and agricultural producers 
of all types and sizes.
  The State of Vermont is served by Yankee Farm Credit, which provides 
more than $400 million in loans to more than 1,000 Vermont members, as 
well as financial-services such as recordkeeping, payroll, income tax 
preparation, consulting, appraisal, and crop insurance.
  Nationwide the Farm Credit System provides more than $237 billion in 
loans to more than 500,000 members.
  Yankee Farm Credit is involved in the agricultural community 
throughout Vermont, working with Vermont's Agency of Agriculture and 
other organizations and agencies such as the Vermont Agricultural 
Credit Corporation, the University of Vermont Extension Service, and 
the USDA's Farm Service Agency. Yankee Farm Credit supports youth in 
agriculture. Yankee Farm Credit together with CoBank has provided more 
than $10,000 in grants each to 4-H and FFA in the past three years.
  Congress designed the Farm Credit System as a network of 
cooperatives, independently owned and controlled by its borrowers. The 
cooperative governance model, whereby directors are accountable to the 
rest of the membership is an important tenet of the Farm Credit System.
  Farm Credit has demonstrated its commitment to its customer owners in 
Vermont for a century, and we look forward to its continued commitment 
for the next one hundred years.

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