(NAFB) – The Farm Credit System reported that combined net income was relatively stable at $1.98 billion for the third quarter of 2024, as compared with $2 billion for the third quarter of 2023.

For the nine months ending on September 20, 2024, FCS’s combined net income increased 7.3 percent to $5.91 billion. That’s compared to $5.51 billion for the same period last year.

“The System continued to achieve favorable results during the third quarter and first nine months of 2024,” says Tracey McCabe, President and CEO of the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation. “Overall credit quality remains strong, despite an increase in non-accrual loans, but results going forward may be impacted by a more challenging agricultural economic and volatile political environment.”

Increases in net interest income primarily resulted from higher levels of average earning assets, driven largely by increased loan volumes and, to a lesser extent, growth in investments held for liquidity.