The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation, also known as Farmer Mac, is a stockholder-owned, federally chartered corporation established by the U.S. Congress in 1988 under the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987.[1][2] It was created to establish a secondary market for agricultural real estate and housing mortgage loans, to increase liquidity and the availability of long-term, stable credit for farmers, ranchers, and rural communities.[3][4][5][6]
Farmer Mac operates by purchasing eligible loans from agricultural and rural infrastructure lenders, guaranteeing securities backed by those loans, and providing loan funding and risk management solutions to rural financing institutions.[1]