Some numbers might not be quite as good as last year, but the financials for the Mississippi Land Bank continue to reward stockholders.

“It’s been an exciting year,” says Mississippi Land Bank President Craig Shideler at the Mississippi Land Bank stockholders annual meeting recently in Como, Miss.

“It was a record-breaking year,” adds Claire Pegram, Mississippi Land Bank chief financial officer. “Loan volume was up 10.2 percent,” she says. Volume went from $567.5 million in 2017 to $617.8 in 2018. That’s the Federal Land Credit Association (FLCA) numbers. Production Credit Association (PCA) figures went from $69.7 million in 2017 to $84.2 million last year.

“We show outstanding loan value and quality,” Pegram said.

Those numbers represent a steady upward trend for the past five years, rising from $518.7 million FLCA and $48.9 million PCA in 2014. Those 2014 numbers represent a 7.1 percent increase from the previous year.

“We have increased FLCA and PCA value even more over the past 10 years,” Pegram said.

Members’ equity also improved for 2018, up from $117 million in 2017 to $125 million last year. Permanent capital ratio dropped slightly, from 16.4 percent to 15.9 percent. “That’s not alarming,” Pegram said.

Year-over-year net income notched “a record high of $108 million,” she added. That’s up from $9.5 million in 2017. That’s been a trend for the past few years, except for 2015 when net income dropped from $9.3 million to $9 million. 2016 saw a recovery, up to $9.4 million and an increase to $9.5 million in 2017.

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Patronage payout is also up, Pegram said. The cash patronage declaration was $4.1 million, up from $3.5 million in 2017, a .65 percent payout, up from .60 percent the previous year.

Those figures also follow an upward tend from 2014, except for 2015 when patronage payout dropped to $2.5 million and .45 percent, off from $2.8 million and .54 percent in 2014. Payout rebounded in 2016, up to $3.5 million and .50 percent.

Shideler said 2018 was a good year for Mississippi Land Bank, despite challenges from low commodity prices. He said weather and the Chinese retaliatory tariffs hurt the agriculture economy. “Change and recessions come along every so often,” he said. “We occasionally experience challenging times.” He is optimistic, however. He explained that the Land Bank loan portfolio is balanced and represents a broad sweep of commodities and agricultural enterprises.

“We want to increase member patronage payout,” He said. “We want to give more back to you. I think we can do more than .65 percent.”

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Mississippi Land Bank Board Chairman Abbott Myers said the Mississippi cooperative, as well as Farm Credit in Mississippi “and across the nation, is in good shape.”