Farm Bankruptcies Update: Fourth Quarter of 2020

by: Kevin Kim, a Ph.D. student and Ani Katchova, Professor and Farm Income Enhancement Chair, Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, The Ohio State University

The number of Chapter 12 bankruptcy filings has not increased in the fourth quarter of 2020 nor in all quarters of 2020 as many had been initially concerned at the beginning of the pandemic. The U.S. farm economy has been supported by strong government payments which reached $46.3 billion in 2020, the largest amount in history. Combined with strong farmland values and low interest rates, the farm bankruptcy rate in Ohio rather decreased in 2020, with 1.29 farm bankruptcies per 10,000 farms.

The report is available at: https://aede.osu.edu/sites/aede/files/publication_files/BankruptcyUpdate2020Q4.pdf