Farmer bankruptcies often are viewed as an important measure of rural economic well-being and of the success or failure of various Federal agricultural and rural policies. But the level of farmer bankruptcies is not a good indicator of rural financial health. Bankruptcies are only a subset of...

Farmer bankruptcies, bankruptcy rates, and related issues are explored from the beginning of modern bankruptcy legislation over a century ago. Farmer bankruptcies historically have been controversial because they are thought to indicate changes in the economic well-being and structure of the...

Chapter 12, a special section in the bankruptcy code enacted in 1986 in response to the farm financial crisis, will expire on October 1, 1998. It has succeeded in keeping some farmers in business and has encouraged informal lender-farmer settlements out of court. But it has increased costs by...

This report summarizes the individual farm records of the members of the Southwestern Minnesota Farm Business Management Association for 2011. Whole-farm information and enterprise costs and returns are reported. The year-end analysis of the individual farms was performed by the Association...