Northwest Farm Credit Services, the Spokane-based agricultural financial services cooperative, has reported third-quarter net income of $43.6 million, down from earnings of $45.8 million in the year-earlier period.
For the first nine months of 2012, though, Northwest Farm Credit has posted total net income of $144.6 million, up compared with $117.4 million in earnings during the year-earlier period.
Phil DiPofi, Northwest Farm Credit's president and CEO, says the cooperative is seeing strong growth in loan volume and improved credit quality, though drought conditions are forcing livestock producers to pay more for feed.
"Although we continue to be optimistic about the long-term agricultural economy in the Northwest, we remain guarded due to continued weaknesses in the broader domestic and global economies," DiPofi says.
Northwest Farm Credit provides more than $11 billion in financing and related services to farmers, ranchers, and others in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, and Alaska.