Net profits were up more than 20-percent in the fiscal year just ended for Farm Credit Services of America. Controller Mike Verzal says the farm lender deals with agricultural clients in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. Credit insurance services including long-term real estate and short-term production loans, leases and crop insurance. That was a particularly profitable area, as Verzal confirms premiums for that crop insurance rose by 35-percent. Farm Credit loans totaled six billion dollars. Verzal says a boost came from the repeated cuts in interest rates last year.They’ve specifically targeted that area so help farmers manage risk. Farm Credit loans totaled six billion dollars, with net interest income of 154-million, up more than eighteen percent from 2000. Verzal says a boost came from the repeated cuts in interest rates last year.Seeing a reduction in market “rates of interest” let them pass lower rates along to customers, which made loans more appealing. While other farm-credit lenders wait for customers to come to their offices, Verzal says Farm Credit Services of America goes out to meet clients, and he anticipates that kind of strategy will bring the company another good year.The “pipeline of loans” is still strong. The company reports that its number of customers grew by nine percent, to nearly 50-thousand last year.