COOPERATIVE AGRICULTURE IN FLORIDA 85

 accumulated earnings. Organized in 1933, PCS has re-
 sulted in great strides forward for agriculture and the
 total output of crop and livestock products per man has
 risen about 70 percent,

 The most important accomplishment of PCS has been
 its part in helping the farmers meet their expanding
 needs for short-term credit Membership has grown to
 more than 479.000 because the farmers have found that
 these associations are filling a definite need in the financ-
 ing of their operations. A total of $11.9 billion has been
 borrowed from the system and losses have been low, only
 1/7 of one percent of the total cash advanced.

 Farmer members owned $92 million of the capital
 stock of the local PCS associations as of June 30, 1953,
 with Government investments totaling $5.5 million in
 the 499 local groups. The Farm Credit Act of 1933 au-
 thorized the System and provided supplemental capital
 of $120 million, and within 20 years the members were
 able to accumulate reserves from net earnings of $86
 million.

 Production Credit Associations Provide Short-Term
 Credit. They are permanent local cooperative organiza-
 tions providing dependable short-term credit for farmers
 in every agricultural county in the United States. A
 farmer-borrower becomes a member and stockholder in
 his own credit institution.
 Loans Made for Many Purposes. Farmers and stock-
men borrow to finance expenses connected with farm
production, family needs, or refinancing debts. For ex-
ample, money for feed, seed, fertilizer, spray material,
gasoline, tile, cement, lumber, fencing and other supplies;
money to pay for livestock, poultry, machinery, labor,
rent, taxes, interest, and insurance.

 Loans are made for any amount from $50.00 up. The
amount a farmer or stockman may borrow depends pri-