Our Story

In 2017, Farm Credit Mid-America saw a need. Many Americans had a dream of living rurally, but very few businesses specialized in rural lending. So, the folks at Farm Credit Mid-America rolled up their sleeves and got to work on defining a business model that lived and breathed rural lending.

In 2018, Rural 1^st was born. With unique cooperative values, specialized loan officers, and over a century of rural lending, Rural 1^st quickly found success across Farm Credit Mid-America’s service area. As part of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of customer-owned cooperatives focused on helping agriculture producers feed the world, rural businesses grow and rural families thrive, Rural 1^st is able to partner with other Associations across the U.S. to help secure the future of rural communities.

And in 2019, Rural 1^st expanded to include Partner Associations across the Farm Credit System. This helped more Americans achieve their dreams of rural living and cemented Rural 1^st as the leader in rural lending.

Who Does Rural 1^st Serve?

While we’re proud to serve customers across our service area, there are limits on where and for whom we can offer loans.

Additional qualifications may also apply. If you have questions about scenarios outside of the above, please reach out to a Rural 1^st Loan Officer so we can learn more about your needs.