Farm Credit Illinois

What Farm Credit Illinois does

Farm Credit Illinois (FCI) is a farmer-owned agricultural financial cooperative founded in 1916 and headquartered in Mahomet, Illinois. Operating as one of the associations within the federally chartered U.S. Farm Credit System, FCI serves farm families, rural landowners, and agribusinesses across the southern 60 counties of Illinois through a Mahomet headquarters and a network of 14 regional offices. The cooperative manages an $8 billion loan portfolio supporting approximately 16,000 member-borrowers and administers crop insurance coverage across 1.5 million acres.

FCI's core product set includes farm operating loans, farm real estate loans, equipment financing, agribusiness financing, country living loans (offered under the Rural 1st brand), federal crop insurance, rural appraisal services, farm cash management, and life insurance (Life Express). The cooperative distinguishes itself by eliminating lender origination, appraisal, and UCC filing fees (saving members up to 1.5% of loan amount), maintaining rates in the lowest 10% of the Farm Credit System, providing free annual loan repricing, and returning earnings to member-borrowers through annual cash patronage distributions ($35 million distributed in 2025 from 2024 earnings). The FreshRoots program offers discounted rates and relaxed standards to young and beginning farmers in their first decade of farming or under age 40.

The cooperative's technology stack centers on the myFCI secure online banking portal, an online loan application system, the Farmland Trends Tracker benchmark tool, and a Loan Calculator. FCI is governed as a borrower-owned cooperative with one-member, one-vote stockholder rights and invests in community engagement through 50 annual community improvement grants to 4-H clubs and FFA chapters, 30 annual $2,500 agriculture scholarships, and educational programming under Farm Credit College. Strategic partnerships include a farmdoc endowment at the University of Illinois Foundation (totaling $750,000 in contributions supporting 3 million+ annual website visits), a preferred lender relationship with USDA Farm Service Agency for beginning farmer lending, and collaboration with Farm Business Farm Management on financial literacy workshops.

Name

Farm Credit Illinois

Legal name

Farm Credit Illinois

Website

https://farmcreditil.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1916

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Farm Credit Illinois is a farmer-owned agricultural financial cooperative serving farm families, rural landowners, and agribusinesses across the southern 60 counties of Illinois with farm loans, crop insurance, country living loans, and agribusiness financing through 14 regional offices, managing an $8 billion loan portfolio for 16,000 member-borrowers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Lending

SIC

Federal & Federally-Sponsored Credit Agencies (6111), Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Agricultural & Rural Cooperatives (Farm Credit/Co-op Banks) (FSABAEAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Whole-Farm Business Management & Budgeting Advisory (AFACAJAA), Farm Financial Management & Recordkeeping Services (AFACAJAC), Farm Finance, Input Procurement & Risk Tools (Budgeting, Inventory, Insurance Links) (AFAAAFAO)

Keywords

• Agricultural lending
• Crop insurance
• Farm loans
• Rural financing
• Agribusiness lending

Headquarters

HQ city

Mahomet

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices14 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Agricultural Lending: Farm Credit Illinois generates revenue through interest on agricultural loans, farm operating loans, real estate loans, and country living loans. The cooperative is borrower-owned and returns cash patronage to member-borrowers based on business value contributed.
2. Crop Insurance: FCI provides crop insurance services including revenue protection and yield protection coverage, managing 1.5 million acres of crop insurance coverage.
3. Rural 1st Country Living Loans: Loans for country homes, rural construction, lots, and recreational land under the Rural 1st brand.
4. Appraisal Services: Rural appraisal services provided by FCI's team of certified appraisers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Farm Credit Illinois is a farmer-owned agricultural financial cooperative that provides farm operating loans, farm real estate loans, country living loans (Rural 1st), agribusiness financing, federal crop insurance, and complimentary rural appraisal services. It also returns cash patronage to member-borrowers and operates the myFCI online banking portal for account management across the southern 60 counties of Illinois.

Product overview

Farm Credit Illinois is a farmer-owned agricultural financial cooperative offering a comprehensive suite of financing and insurance products. The core offerings include Farm Loans for agricultural operations, Crop Insurance for risk protection, and Country Living Loans (Rural 1st) for rural lifestyle financing. Additional services encompass Agribusiness Financing, Appraisals, Farm Cash Management, Life Express insurance, and Funds Held services. The digital platform myFCI provides online banking access, complemented by tools including the Online Loan Application, Farmland Trends Tracker, Loan Calculator, and Auction Listings. Cooperative benefits include Cash Patronage distributions and the Members Market program. Education initiatives feature Learning Programs (Farm Financials, Outlook Meetings, Ag Minded Hour, She Grows) and FreshRoots lending assistance for young farmers. Community engagement includes Agriculture Scholarships and Community Improvement Grants.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Rural 1st: Country life lending program for rural homes, construction, lots, and recreational land
• FreshRoots
• Members Market
• Farm Cash Management
• Life Express
• Farm Credit College

Products and services

• Farm Loans

Quantifiable outcome

• Members save up to 1.5% of loan amount through waived fees
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Farm Business Farm Management (FBFM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFCI collaborated with FBFM to build the Farm Financials 2 workshop, which dives deeper into understanding financial ratios and best practices of successful operations, providing farmers with tools to monitor and forecast financial trendlines.
• University of Illinois FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFCI established and maintains a farmdoc endowment at the University of Illinois Foundation, originally established in 2010 with $350,000 and supplemented with additional $400,000 contribution. The endowment provides funding for farmdoc and farmdocdaily websites that offer online tools and resources for farm families, hosting over 3 million visits annually.
• USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFCI is an FSA preferred lender offering the 50-45-5 loan program for beginning farmers, where FCI finances 50%, FSA finances 45%, and borrower provides 5% down payment. FCI loan officers have experience writing these loans with high probability of approval within 14 days.
• Rural 1stcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerRural 1st is a brand under which FCI offers country living loans for rural homes, construction, lots, and recreational land, providing comprehensive rural lifestyle lending solutions.
• U.S. Farm Credit SystemcoreOthersFarm Credit Illinois is part of the U.S. Farm Credit System, a network of locally owned cooperatives supporting rural communities, farm families, and agriculture with reliable, consistent credit and financial services.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Compeer Financial: Compeer Financial is a Farm Credit System cooperative serving Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin with farm lending, crop insurance, and rural lending — the closest direct peer to Farm Credit Illinois given overlapping Illinois territory, identical cooperative charter, and matched product suite.
• Farm Credit Services of America: Farm Credit Services of America is a large Farm Credit System association serving Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming — comparable as a direct agricultural lender and crop insurance provider to row-crop farmers using the same lending, insurance, and patronage model as FCI.
• AgCountry Farm Credit Services: AgCountry is a Farm Credit System cooperative serving Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin — comparable to FCI as a Midwest Farm Credit lender offering farm real estate loans, operating loans, crop insurance, and patronage returns to member-borrowers.
• GreenStone Farm Credit Services: GreenStone Farm Credit Services is a Farm Credit System cooperative serving Michigan and northeast Wisconsin — a direct peer in structure and product set (ag lending, country living loans, crop insurance, patronage) though in a different Midwest geography.
• Farm Credit Mid-America: Farm Credit Mid-America is a large Farm Credit System cooperative serving Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee — directly comparable as an agricultural lender offering crop insurance, real estate loans, and patronage to farmer-members.

Broad incumbents

• Farm Credit Bank of Texas: Farm Credit Bank of Texas is one of four funding banks within the U.S. Farm Credit System that provides capital markets funding to retail associations like FCI — a structural peer within the same federal banking umbrella though operating at the wholesale/funding level rather than direct retail lending.
• CoBank: CoBank is a Farm Credit System bank providing wholesale funding and direct agribusiness lending to cooperatives across rural America — comparable as a backer of the Farm Credit System with overlapping agribusiness focus, though operating at greater scale and a broader geographic mandate.
• Rabobank Agribusiness: Rabobank is a global financial institution with a major U.S. agribusiness lending franchise serving producers, packers, and processors — comparable to FCI as a sophisticated agricultural lender, though operating as a commercial bank rather than a cooperative.
• MetLife Agricultural Finance: MetLife Agricultural Finance provides long-term fixed-rate farm real estate loans through a bank network — competing with FCI for the same farm real estate financing customers, though as a commercial insurance-and-loan portfolio rather than a cooperative.

Regional players

• Heartland Cooperative Services: Heartland Cooperative is an Iowa-based agricultural cooperative offering grain, agronomy, and energy services to farmer-members — comparable as a Midwest farmer-owned cooperative serving a similar ag customer base with related rural services, though focused on inputs rather than financing.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/farmcreditIL

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Farm Credit Illinois