A USDA economist says the
farm balance sheet remains strong overall and the number of financially at-risk
farm operations is low.
Warren Preston says debt is expected to increase by 1.6%, but the value of farm sector assets is projected to increase by 0.2%.
“The debt-to-asset ratio is estimated at 13.5 % and the debt-to-equity ratio is estimated at 15.6%.”
He says some individual farms are under a lot of stress, but as a whole, the numbers are not comparable to the farm crisis of the 1980’s.
