Santa Rosa’s American AgCredit closer to goal of Southwest expansion

American AgCredit has grown one step closer to its merger with Farm Credit of New Mexico, the two farming cooperatives announced after shareholder approvals Tuesday.

The deal is anticipated to close this July between the Santa Rosa- and Albuquerque-based organizations. Shareholders are given a roughly one-month “reconsideration period.” The agreement also faces regulatory approvals.

If all goes as planned, the deal will pave a wider path in the American Southwest for American AgCredit, which was chartered in 1916 and has emerged as the fourth largest ag lending cooperative out of 65 dotting the United States as a network of farm credit organizations.

“This merger drives our purpose to serve the farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses in our seven-state territory,” American AgCredit CEO Curt Hudnutt said in a statement.

Assets of the company under the American AgCredit brand total $20.5 billion in an industry showing “explosive growth over the last 10 years,” company officials indicated. More than $2 billion of that total comes from Farm Credit of New Mexico, the largest cooperative in that state. Across the nation, the business of lending to agricultural companies accounts for $200 billion in loans.

From the North Bay’s Noble Vineyard Management to Wiens Wagyu in Kansas, American AgCredit serves more than 11,000 clients in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Nevada, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Farm Credit of New Mexico bringsanother 1,000 customers to American AgCredit’s client base.

American AgCredit provides financial services such as mortgage financing, equipment leasing and crop insurance. It also secures interest-free loans for qualifying 4-H and Future Farmers of America Ag-Youth programs, among college scholarships to advance the industry of agriculture and offer more opportunities to budding young farmworkers and entrepreneurs.

Another 120 staffers from the New Mexico cooperative will join forces with the Sonoma County cooperative’s 795.

Farm Credit of New Mexico officials were enthusiastic about the merger.

“The size and scale of the merged association builds on the agricultural expertise, talent and passion of the association employees to drive profitability for customers in New Mexico and across the association’s territory,” Farm Credit of New Mexico board Chairman James Duffy said in a statement.

Susan Wood covers law, cannabis, production, tech, energy, transportation, agriculture as well as banking and finance. She can be reached at 530-545-8662 or susan.wood@busjrnl.com