Dust & Promises: A Farm Credit Play

by

First Sabrepoint Capital, a name whispered among those who shuffle paper for a living, has laid down seven million, eight hundred and some thousand dollars on Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation—Farmer Mac, they call it. A sizable bet, certainly. Enough to buy a good piece of the plains, or, more likely, a slice of the debt that holds those plains together. It happened February the thirteenth, two thousand and twenty-six, a date that will mean little to the wheat, or the men who tend it, but a ripple in the ledger books, nonetheless.

The Land and the Loan

The filing, a dry document born of regulation, states plainly that First Sabrepoint acquired forty-four thousand, five hundred shares. Numbers. Always numbers. But behind those numbers are stories, aren’t they? Farmers mortgaging their land, rural co-ops seeking a lifeline, the slow, steady churn of a nation fed. This isn’t about growth; it’s about keeping the wheels turning, preventing the inevitable erosion. A necessary business, perhaps, but rarely a glorious one.

This new position represents a bit over three percent of the fund’s holdings, a rounding error in the grand scheme, but a commitment nonetheless. They hold a good deal more in the usual suspects: TPB, FCFS, LAUR, the names that promise quick returns, the fleeting fortunes built on air. Farmer Mac is different. It’s a long play, a stake in the soil, a bet on the stubborn resilience of those who work it.

The stock itself, as of late last year, was down nearly eight percent, lagging behind the broader market by a considerable margin. Twenty percentage points behind, to be precise. The market, of course, favors the shiny and new, the quick profits and the easy gains. It rarely rewards those who toil in the dust, who build slowly and steadily, who offer a hand to those in need.

A Look Beneath the Surface

Metric Value
Revenue (TTM) $402.4 million
Net income (TTM) $216.00 million
Dividend yield 3.44%
Price (as of market close February 12, 2026) $179.14

Farmer Mac doesn’t deal in dreams, but in guarantees. They offer a secondary market for agricultural loans, rural utility financing, and USDA-backed debt. They’re the quiet partner, the unseen hand that keeps the credit flowing, the one who steps in when others shy away. They serve the lenders, the co-ops, the institutions that need to offload risk, providing liquidity and stability in a volatile world. It’s a thankless job, but someone has to do it.

What Does it Mean?

The numbers tell a story of expansion. Outstanding business volume exceeding thirty-one billion, net interest income up thirteen percent, core earnings at a record high. Impressive, certainly. But these are just figures on a page. What matters is what lies beneath. Farmer Mac’s model, spanning farm and ranch, rural utilities, broadband, and renewable energy, is a recognition that some things are essential, that some investments are worth making, regardless of the short-term returns. It’s a bet on the infrastructure of life, not the whims of the market.

Their balance sheet is sturdy, with ample capital and a healthy Tier 1 ratio. They’ve built a fortress, a bulwark against the storms that inevitably come. And if they can maintain that resilience, if they can continue to provide a steady stream of credit to those who need it most, then perhaps this relative underperformance will prove to be a fleeting moment, a chance to acquire a piece of something solid in a world built on sand. It is a long shot, of course. But in the fields, and in the markets, sometimes the longest shots are the only ones worth taking.

Read More

2026-02-13 22:52