The Farm Credit Administration is an independent agency of the Executive Branch of the United States Government

Federal government of the United States

The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...

. It regulates and examines the banks, associations, and related entities of the Farm Credit System

Farm Credit System

The Farm Credit System is a federally chartered network of cooperatives and related service organizations that lends to agricultural producers, rural homeowners, farm-related businesses, and agricultural, aquatic, and public utility cooperatives in the United States...

, a network of borrower-owned financial institutions that provide credit to farmers, ranchers, and agricultural and rural utility cooperative

Utility cooperative

A utility cooperative is a type of cooperative that is tasked with the delivery of a public utility such as electricity, water or telecommunications to its members...

s. It derives its authority from the Farm Credit Act of 1971

Farm Credit Act of 1971

The Farm Credit Act of 1971 recodified all previous acts governing the Farm Credit System , a cooperatively owned government-sponsored enterprise that provides credit primarily to farmers and ranchers.- Background :...

. The FCA is headquartered in McLean, Virginia

McLean, Virginia

McLean is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. The community had a total population of 48,115 as of the 2010 census....

, near Washington, DC. The Farm Credit Administration was established by Executive Order 6084.

The Farm Credit Act of 1933

Farm Credit Act of 1933

The Farm Credit Act of 1933 established the Farm Credit System as a group of cooperative lending institutions to provide short-, intermediate-, and long-term loans for agricultural purposes...

 provides for organizations within the Farm Credit Administration. The Farm Credit Act of 1933 was part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...

's New Deal

New Deal

The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...

, to help farmers refinance mortgages over a longer time at below-market interest rates at regional and national banks. This helped farmers recover from the Dustbowl. The Emergency Farm Mortgage Act loaned funds to farmers in danger of losing their properties. The campaign refinanced 20% of farmer's mortgages.

An Executive order by Roosevelt in 1933 placed all existing agricultural credit organizations under the supervision of a new agency, the Farm Credit Administration. The Farm Credit Administration was independent until 1939, when it became part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, but became an independent agency again under the Farm Credit Act of 1953. This Act created a Federal Farm Credit Board with 13 members (one from each of the 12 agricultural districts and one appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture) to develop policy for the Farm Credit Administration.

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