Agricultural Income and Finance: Situation and Outlook Report, February 1997

摘要

Financial institutions serving agriculture continued to experience improvedconditions in 1996, and further gains are expected in 1997. Total farm business debt at yearend 1996 is estimated at $155.5 billion up 3.1 percent earlier. The Farm Credit System (FCS) accounted for about 54 percent of the estimated $4.7-billion increase in farm lending in 1996, compared with 39 percent in 1995. Farm business debt is expected to grow about 3 percent again in 1997. Commercial bank loads are projected to increase less than 2 percent, compared with an anticipated 5-percent rise in FCS debt. Creditworthy farmers should have adequate access to loans, mostly from commercial banks and the FCS, the largest suppliers.