Alabama Ag Credit Continues to Play Positive Role in Difficult Economy

Times are hard, and every day we hear experts on television or the radio express their varying views on the challenges posed by the economy. While their projections over the past year or two have usually been negative in nature, it's times like these where we need to recognize the opportunities we all have to enhance someone else's life.

At Alabama Ag Credit, we realize that difficult economic times continue to exist for many of our customers, but we continue to play a positive role in central and south Alabama. Instead of withdrawing from the lending environment, we are staying true to our mission - we are continuing to serve our customers by being a reliable source of credit for creditworthy borrowers in the agricultural industry and rural Alabama. These aren't just words. The evidence is demonstrated by the continued growth of our loan portfolio.

We have remained profitable and strongly capitalized during these difficult times, which has allowed us to stimulate the local economy by distributing a $3 million all-cash patronage to our stockholders. We also continue to sponsor many events and activities in the area, such as the State FFA Convention, ALFA's Young Farm Family Contest, the SLE Rodeo and many more local community events too numerous to mention.

Our mission requires us to be a strong, available resource for our customers in both good times and bad. Thankfully, several months into 2010, most experts and federal official seem to feel the economic situation may be showing signs of improvement, albeit slow and gradual. It was a good thing, though, that after more than 90 years in the business, we had experience weathering the ups and downs in the economy. We held steady, thanks in large part to the solid, conservative lending decisions by our board and staff and the cooperative business model upon which our organization is founded.

At Alabama Ag Credit, we look forward to better days ahead, even while we celebrate the successes we have had during this difficult period. As always, we thank you for your business and will strive to meet all of your financial needs.

Sincerely,

Douglas Thiessen
CEO