The Fed. Ag. Mort. Corp. (Farmer Mac-(FM)) is a gov't.-sponsored (GS) enterprise that was established to create a secondary market (SM) in ag. mort., thus improving the avail. of ag. mort. credit. To relieve impediments that had limited FM's ability to function efficiently, Congress passed the Farm Credit System Reform Act of 1996, which revised FM's authorities. This report reviews the progress that FM has made in achieving its mission and examines its viability. The objectives were to (1) examine actions taken by FM to promote the development of a SM, and (2) analyze FM's future viability and discuss the potential benefits and costs of a GS SM for ag. mort.