AgSouth Farm Credit CEO William P. Spigener, Jr. recently announced that on March 24, 2008, the cooperative distributed a record $32.7 million in patronage to its members. More than $9.3 million of the total patronage was returned in cash, with the remaining $21.7 million designated as allocated surplus. The patronage return represents nearly 28% of the total interest earned by AgSouth for the year ending December 31, 2007.

According to Spigener, “Since 1991 AgSouth has put more than $315 million of our profits into members’ pockets. The 2007 patronage we returned is nearly 28% of interest earned by the association. This means that for every $1.00 paid in interest on an AgSouth loan, members received 28 cents back. In February, the association revolved nearly $12 million in qualified surplus to members from the 2002 surplus pool. This year our customers have seen more than $21.5 million dollars in cash returned to them through the patronage program.” Spigener attributes the strength of the patronage program to the strong financial position of the cooperative and the commitment of the association’s directors, management, and staff.