Lessons in Stewardship, Transparency, and Long‑Term Value

As I reflect on my years leading Farmer Mac, I’ve often been challenged to explain how our publicly-traded government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) can continue to remain trusted, effective, and durable in delivering on its mission in service of agriculture, rural infrastructure, investors, and the public trust. I suggest it’s not a single strategy or structure, but a disciplined commitment to stewardship in our governance, transparency in our operations, and a long-term view of value creation—principles that have been reinforced and refined through experience over time.

Like other GSEs, Farmer Mac was created by an act of Congress. Our congressional charter established a clear and enduring public purpose for Farmer Mac: providing liquidity for rural America. That focus on liquidity has always been central to what we do—helping ensure that our customers serving rural communities can continue to lend through cycles, manage liquidity, capital, and risk, and support the families, businesses, and communities that depend on them.

Unlike other GSEs, Farmer Mac is currently traded on a major stock exchange (through our Class C common stock, NYSE: AGM, which represents more than 90% of the economic value of our equity, as well as our Class A stock, NYSE: AGM-A), and thus operates at the intersection of public mission and market accountability to our shareholders. That dual role demands a careful balance, where Farmer Mac must deliver reliable access to capital for American agriculture and rural infrastructure while maintaining the confidence of the investors and institutions that help make it possible.

That balance begins with alignment. Our governance model is anchored by a board composed of independent directors appointed through three distinct sources: five presidential appointees, five directors elected by commercial banks and other non-Farm Credit System financial institutions that hold our Class A stock, and five directors elected by Farm Credit System institutions, which hold our Class B voting common stock (not listed on any exchange). This range of perspectives has strengthened our independence and has reinforced a culture of accountability over time.

Our commitment to alignment has also been reinforced through equity ownership. Our directors and executive officers are Class C holders, with a significant portion of their long-term compensation tied to equity. And all employees participate in equity ownership as part of a broader effort to foster shared accountability and long-term alignment with Farmer Mac’s performance. Together, these structures reflect a deliberate approach to stewardship that aligns decision-making authority and long-term interests in service of Farmer Mac’s mission and the public trust.

That same philosophy of alignment extends to how we have changed the way we manage performance. During my tenure, we’ve built a financial framework grounded in clear, disciplined measures like net effective spread (an internal measure of the relationship between asset yields and funding costs), Tier 1 Capital, operating expense efficiency, and return on equity. We do not manage to metrics in isolation; financial performance, mission impact, risk discipline, and reputation are considered together in our decisions. But managing to these measures, and communicating them clearly, provides our stakeholders with confidence that we are steady in our direction and transparent in our results. GSEs are often viewed as enjoying a funding advantage that reflects an implied market confidence in their ability to meet commitments even in periods of market stress due to an implicit Treasury guarantee. However, that alone does not build trust; it’s earned through consistent performance and transparent risk management. Consistency signals to the market that Farmer Mac’s strength is not just situational, but grounded in structure and discipline.

At Farmer Mac, we apply private-sector discipline to a public mandate, and we understand that fulfilling that mandate depends on investing in our people. Our compensation and benefits are designed to attract and retain exceptional talent while fostering a culture that supports long-term success. We’re proud to be consistently recognized as a Top Workplace, including awards for cultural excellence. We view shareholder return, mission impact, and employee opportunity not as competing objectives, but as reinforcing parts of a virtuous circle. Mission delivery supports financial health; financial health supports talent; talent advances the mission.

Today, Farmer Mac operates within a dynamic and evolving financial landscape. As market conditions shift, it’s natural for questions to arise about how GSEs can balance public purpose and market accountability, how they can sustain trust across cycles, and how governance, discipline, and a sustained focus on long-term value can shape performance over time. Periods of market stress tend to clarify the value of consistency and sound governance. At Farmer Mac, we have continued working to be a strong and durable source of liquidity for lenders serving rural America—not solely because of our structure, but because of the operations, people, and discipline behind it.

GSEs are granted a unique privilege in their access to the debt capital markets. Our ability to access funding at competitive rates reflects the confidence investors place in our public-purpose structure, our risk management, and our performance over time. That privilege comes with a profound responsibility, and it is something we sustain through consistent performance, sound governance, and transparency. Meeting that responsibility requires more than compliance; it requires character. It demands a consistent focus on governance that aligns decision-making authority with long-term interests, transparency that builds trust, and performance that stands the test of time.

Those are the lessons I carry forward from my time leading Farmer Mac. They are not just principles for a successful enterprise; they are the foundation for enduring value.