Federal Land Bank of Wichita Collection
Scope and Contents
The Federal Land Bank of Wichita Collection consists of photocopies of documents dated 1907 to 1989, with the bulk falling from 1942 to 1980. The collection contains handbooks used by the Land Bank and its employees, as well as a variety of reports and maps relating to ditches, streams, and underground water in Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, and Nebraska, as well as similar reports from the Land Bank of Berkeley regarding Utah and Wyoming. The bulk of the documents in this collection are engineering reports and appraisals about the land, its use, water availability, and the debt and payment history of the organization asking for the loan.
Dates
- 1907-1989
- Majority of material found within 1942-1980
Creator
- Federal Land Bank of Wichita (Organization)
Restrictions on Access
There are no access restrictions on this collection.
Restrictions on Use
Not all of the material in the collection is in the public domain. Researchers are responsible for addressing copyright issues.
History
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.
Extent
4 linear feet (8 document boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
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. The collection contains reports and maps relating to ditches, streams, and underground water in Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, and Nebraska, as well as similar reports from the Land Bank of Berkeley regarding Utah and Wyoming. A portion of the collection is digitized and online.
Arrangement
The collection arrived loosely organized by state. Those were kept as categories, organized alphabetically, and therein organized chronologically. Handbooks were put into their own series.
The collection consists of 2 series in 8 boxes:
Series 1: Handbooks, 1974-1975
Series 2: Reports, 1907-1989 and undated
Acquisition
The Federal Land Bank of Wichita Collection was acquired by the Water Resources Archive on April 6, 2012. The collection was donated by the Sociology Water Lab at Colorado State University.
Online Materials
Some reports have been scanned and are available through the Colorado State University Libraries website. In the electronic version of this document, direct links appear in context.
Processing
Processing was completed in November 2012. Some of the cardboard folders were removed. Paper clips were removed and replaced with plastic clips as necessary. Rubber bands and self-stick notes were removed. All files were put into acid-free folders and boxes. One document marked confidential, nearly a duplicate of an unmarked one, was removed.
Inventory Note
Note: Title information supplied by the archivist is bracketed. Estimated pagination is preceded by an "e." Two identical copies of the same item are indicated by the phrase "2 copies" at the end of the entry, following the number of pages of each copy.
- Title
- Guide to the Federal Land Bank of Wichita Collection
- Status
- Edited Full Draft
- Author
- Prepared by Barbara S. Smith and Patricia J. Rettig
- Date
- Copyright 2013
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the CSU Libraries Archives & Special Collections Repository
Fort Collins Colorado 80523-1019 USA
970-491-1844
library_dl_specialcollections@mail.colostate.edu