Federal Land Bank of Wichita Collection

The Federal Land Bank of Wichita was created, along with twelve other banks, by the United States government to provide long-term credit to farmers by the Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916 in response to the unique credit needs of farmers. In 1912 and 1913, presidents William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson had sent commissions of ambassadors to Europe to study cooperative land-mortgage banks, rural credit unions, and other institutions that promoted agriculture and rural development. The Wilson commission recommended a system of agricultural banks to provide both long-term, or land-mortgage credit, and short-term credit to meet recurring needs. Congress responded with the Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916. The Farm Credit Administration (FCA) was independent until 1939, when it became part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), but became an independent agency again under the Farm Credit Act of 1953.

Before Congress authorized a system of longer-term loans for farmers, the lack of suitable credit forced many thousands of farmers to abandon their livelihood and its way of life. The credit extended to farmers by the Land Bank of Wichita was sometimes used for ditch and irrigation projects, among others, throughout Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico.

The modern FCA derives its authority from the Farm Credit Act of 1971. The Farm Credit Amendments Act of 1985 restructured the FCA to give it increased oversight, regulatory, and enforcement powers similar to those of other federal financial regulatory institutions.

As a result of the severe financial crisis in the early- and mid-1980s, the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 was passed and authorized up to $4 billion in federal assistance to troubled institutions; the Federal Land Banks were merged with Federal Intermediate Credit Banks and collectively formed Farm Credit Banks (FCB). Among a variety of other benefits, this protected the full value of stock and established an insurance mechanism for repayment of funds borrowed by the Farm Credit System (FCS).

The Farm Credit System, like the earlier Federal Land Banks, lends to agricultural producers, rural homeowners, farm-related businesses, and agricultural, aquatic, and public utility cooperatives. The FCS is a nationwide network of borrower-owned lending institutions and specialized service organizations that provide credit and related services to farmers, ranchers, agricultural cooperatives, and other eligible borrowers.

Today, the FCS is structured into four Federal Credit Banks that disburse short-, intermediate-, and long-term loans. This structure enables an integrated, full-service lending business. Wichita FLB was merged into the Farm Credit Bank of Wichita, and later renamed U.S. AgBank, FCB in 2003. On January 1, 2012 U.S. AgBank, FCB was merged into CoBank, ACB and is now located in Fresno, California.