Farm Credit Services Quarterly Earnings Up

Farm Credit Services of America reported Friday that its earnings in the first quarter ended March 31 rose to $49.1 million, a 16 percent increase compared to $42.5 million in the first quarter of 2007. Loan volume for the Omaha based lender to agriculture increased by $734 million from year-end to $12.9 billion on March 31. The rise in the bank's net income came from an increase in net interest income. That was partially offset by an increase in non-interest expense and tax expense. Farm Credit Services of America has more than 72,000 borrowers in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming and assets of $13.5 billion.