Business: The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation, commonly known as Farmer Mac, is a stockholder-owned, government sponsored enterprise or GSE created by Congress to improve the availability of long-term credit for America's farmers, ranchers, rural homeowners, businesses and communities. Farmer Mac accomplishes this public policy mission by providing a secondary market for qualified agricultural mortgage loans, rural housing mortgage loans, rural utilities loans (to cooperative borrowers made by cooperative lenders) and the guaranteed portions of agricultural and rural development loans guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Farmer Mac is an institution of the Farm Credit System and is regulated by the Farm Credit Administration, an independent agency in the executive branch of the United States government.