In November 1998, the Farm Credit Administration issued a proposed regulation that would unleash competition within the Farm Credit System (FCS). Essentially, this regulation would authorize any FCS lender to make loans anywhere in the US. Because of strong opposition within the FCS to this lender's choice regulation, it faces an uncertain fate. However, the pressures within the FCS that crystallized in this proposed regulation will not dissipate even if it is shelved temporarily.