CoBank Board Approves Special All-Cash Patronage Distribution of $106 million for 2023

DENVER (December 13, 2023) - CoBank, a cooperative bank serving agribusinesses, rural infrastructure providers and Farm Credit associations throughout the United States, today announced that its board of directors has approved a special all-cash patronage distribution for eligible customer-owners.

The distribution, projected to be approximately $106 million, is scheduled to be made in March 2024 along with the target patronage customer-owners receive under the bank’s various patronage programs. It will represent an increase of between 12 percent and 16 percent over target patronage, depending on the customer-owner’s patronage program rate.

At its December meeting, the board also approved stock retirements of approximately $45 million.

“These patronage payments are a direct result of the bank’s outstanding financial performance in 2023,” said Kevin Still, chair of the CoBank board. “As a financial cooperative, we are delighted to be returning such a high level of economic value to customer-owners, especially as the broader financial services industry continues to face headwinds and uncertainty. As always, we are committed to supporting our customer-owners as they navigate the challenges and opportunities of their unique businesses.”

Special patronage amounts for each customer-owner will vary by patronage pool as detailed in the following table and will be based on average daily loan balances held by the bank during the year.

At its December meeting, the board also approved changes to the 2024 capital plans for Agribusiness, Communications & Project Finance customers and Loans Purchased from Farm Credit Institutions to increase their targeted patronage rate from 95 bps to 100 bps.  The board also voted to amend the 2024 capital plan for Electric & Water customers to increase the cash portion of target patronage to 65 percent from the prior level of 60 percent.

“These enhancements will further increase economic value for customer-owners in these patronage pools,” Still said.

Governance Updates 

Also today, CoBank announced board officers for 2024. The CoBank board elects its officers to serve a one-year term commencing January 1 and expiring December 31 each year.

Kevin Still has been re-elected as the board chair. Still has been a director since 2002 and is the president and chief executive officer of Co-Alliance Cooperative Inc., a cooperative supplying energy, agronomy and animal nutrition, producing swine and marketing grain in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is also the owner and president of Still Farms LLC, a grain farm, and serves as an officer or director of various agricultural retail and energy cooperatives.

Edgar Terry will serve as first vice chair. Terry has been a director since 2016 and is the chair of the Risk Committee. He is the owner and president of Terry Farms Inc., a vegetable and strawberry farming operation in Ventura, California. He is also an owner and officer of Amigos Fuerza Inc., a provider of farm labor contracting, and Moonridge Management Inc., a provider of back office and human resources consulting. Terry serves on the board of the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation and is a former director and past board chair of Farm Credit West, ACA. 

Brandon Wittman will serve as second vice chair. Wittman has been a director since 2018 and is the chief executive officer and general manager of Yellowstone Valley Electric Cooperative Inc., an electric distribution cooperative in Huntley, Montana. Wittman also serves as a director of The Farm Credit Council and Montana Electric Cooperatives Association.

“We are excited by the progress CoBank has made against its strategic priorities over the past 12 months, and I look forward to continuing this work with Edgar, Brandon and the rest of our board in the coming year to position CoBank for continued success and mission service,” Still said.

CoBank’s 2024 board will consist of 14 directors elected by customer-owners from six voting regions across the country, as well as two outside directors and two appointed directors.

About CoBank

CoBank is a cooperative bank serving vital industries across rural America. The bank provides loans, leases, export financing and other financial services to agribusinesses and rural power, water and communications providers in all 50 states. The bank also provides wholesale loans and other financial services to affiliated Farm Credit associations serving more than 76,000 farmers, ranchers and other rural borrowers in 23 states around the country. CoBank is a member of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of banks and retail lending associations chartered to support the borrowing needs of U.S. agriculture, rural infrastructure and rural communities. Headquartered outside Denver, Colorado, CoBank serves customers from regional banking centers across the U.S. and also maintains an international representative office in Singapore.