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For Immediate Release
April 8, 2005

AUSTIN, Texas - James A. McCarthy, a retired farmer from Rio Hondo, Texas, received the highest honor awarded by the Farm Credit Bank of Texas (FCBT), when he was inducted into the bank's Academy of Honor on March 31.

McCarthy was one of two recipients of the honor, which recognizes significant contributions and outstanding service to agriculture. A $10,000 scholarship will be presented in McCarthy's name to a student at the university of his choice.

Dr. Walter A. Hill, dean of the College of Agricultural, Environmental and Natural Sciences at Tuskegee University, also was inducted into the Academy.

A former board chairman of the Austin-based bank, McCarthy represented the interests of his fellow farmers and ranchers at the local, district and national levels of the Farm Credit System for 37 years. During this period, he worked with legislators and Farm Credit leaders to craft the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 as well as other critical farm legislation.

"Jimmy maintained a reputation on Capitol Hill as a tough negotiator and strong advocate for agriculture and the Farm Credit System," said FCBT Board Chairman Ralph W. Cortese. "Without his strong leadership and foresight on policy and regulatory matters, the Tenth Farm Credit District might not have been positioned to take advantage of opportunities that the district now enjoys."

McCarthy served on the Production Credit Association of South Texas Board of Directors for 22 years. He was elected to the Farm Credit Bank of Texas Board of Directors in 1988, a position he held through 2002. In 1986, he was appointed to the National Commission on Agricultural Finance, and later served on the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac) board for eight years. In addition, he helped lead the effort to try to develop a new national crop insurance program.

In the Rio Grande Valley, McCarthy was a longtime director of Drainage District No. 3 and a member of the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service. He and his wife Judith raised eight children. They recently sold their cattle, cotton, grain and sugarcane operation to a son.

The Farm Credit Bank of Texas provides financing to 21 rural lending cooperatives and four Other Financing Institutions. Together, the bank and its affiliated lenders comprise the Tenth Farm Credit District, which has more than $8.4 billion in loans to agricultural producers, agribusinesses, and rural homeowners and landowners in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas.