President Theodore Roosevelt planted the seeds of the Farm Credit System in 1908, when he appointed a Country Life Commission to address the problems facing a predominantly rural population. The commission documented a lack of adequate agricultural credit, where a farmer could readily secure loans on fair terms. Its findings led to additional government studies, which included extensive analysis of other nations' rural credit systems. Lawmakers chose a cooperative credit structure based on 12 Federal Land Banks, using $125 million in government seed money but financed by private capital from investors. Email id not found