Northwest Farm Credit Services reports earnings drop in third quarter

Northwest Farm Credit Services on Monday reported a drop in third-quarter earnings.

The Spokane-based agricultural lending cooperative reported earnings of $73.4 million, compared to $76 million in earnings for the same quarter in 2018.

Earnings for the nine months ended Sept. 30 were $206.7 million, compared to $220.5 million for the same period last year.

An additional patronage distribution from CoBank and a larger refund of premiums previously paid to the Farm Credit System Insurance Corp. contributed to the drop in earnings for nine months ended Sept. 30, according to a company news release.