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For Immediate Release
May 14, 2003

AUSTIN, Texas - The Farm Credit Bank of Texas (FCBT) and its affiliated lending associations in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas together reported strong financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2003.

The bank and associations comprise the Tenth Farm Credit District, a network of rural financing cooperatives established more than 86 years ago.

The district's net income for the first quarter of 2003 totaled $29.6 million, a 19 percent increase from the $24.8 million reported for the same period in 2002. The increase is attributed largely to increases in net interest income.

Gross loan volume for the district reached a record $6.850 billion at March 31, 2003, reflecting an increase of $54 million, or 0.8 percent, from the $6.796 billion loan volume at Dec. 31, 2002.

"We are proud that our bank and lending associations continued to perform extremely well in the first quarter in spite of the sluggish general economy and uncertainties facing the nation," said Larry R. Doyle, FCBT chief executive officer.

He noted that historically low interest rates sustained loan demand, while continued government support to farmers helped to stabilize the agricultural sector. Competitive loan pricing, increased loan participation activity and enhanced marketing and customer service efforts also contributed to the district's success in the first quarter, Doyle said.

The quality of the district's loan portfolio remained strong, with overall acceptable credit quality of 97.3 percent at March 31, 2003, down only slightly from the 97.4 percent reported at year-end 2002.

The bank and associations' combined assets grew to $7.859 billion at March 31, 2003, from $7.690 billion at Dec. 31, 2002.

The Tenth Farm Credit District is composed of the Farm Credit Bank of Texas, 12 Agricultural Credit Associations, which make rural real estate and agricultural loans, and 10 Federal Land Credit Associations, which specialize in rural real estate lending. At March 31, 2003, they reported a total of 62,321 loans outstanding to agricultural producers, agribusiness operations, country homeowners and other rural landowners.

The Tenth District is part of the nationwide Farm Credit System, the largest agricultural lending organization in the United States. The cooperatively owned System reported combined net income of $435 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2003, as compared with net income of $410 million for the same period last year.