Farmer Mac Reports 1Q Profits

The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp., Washington, has reported net income of $5.0 million ($0.44 per share) for the first quarter, compared with $4.9 million ($0.42 per share) for the first quarter of 2005."Farmer Mac's strategic diversification of its marketing focus, begun last summer, has continued to produce tangible results," said Henry D. Edelman, Farmer Mac's president and chief executive officer. "First-quarter 2006 new business volume was $648.5 million, following on strong fourth-quarter 2005 volume of $330.5 million." The government-sponsored enterprise can be found online at http://www.farmermac.com.