78 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

 CHAPTER V
 Agricultural Credit

 Credit is available to farmers and their cooperatives
 through such sources as banks, supply merchants, indi-
 viduals. National Farm Loan Associations, Production
 Credit Associations, Banks for Cooperatives and the
 Farmers Home Administration.

 THE FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION
 National Farm Loan Associations, Production Credit
 Associations, and Banks for Cooperatives are all a part of
 our Farm Credit Administration.
 The Farm Credit Administration is essentially a
 farmers' cooperative organization. Almost without ex-
 ception farmers were largely, if not entirely responsible
 for obtaining the legislation which has made the various
 units of the Farm Credit Administration possible. They
 induced Congress, in several instances at least, to supply
 the initial capital for the various units of the Farm Credit
 Administration. At the same time, they insisted on a
 proviso pertaining to most of the units that the farmers
 themselves or their cooperatives would be given the
 opportunity to replace the Government's capital and to
 own their cooperative credit institutions themselves.

 The Farm Credit Administration's units do not seek
to monopolize the farm credit field by any means. Right
now, perhaps, the national farm loan associations and
the Federal land banks are making about 10 percent of
the farm mortgages of the country. The Production
Credit System, known as the PCA's, perhaps handle
about the same percentage of the short term credit needs
of farmers and ranchers advanced by lending institutions.

 No units of the Farm Credit Administration have been
set up at a time when there was not distress in the coun-
try, at least so far as farming and ranching are concerned.