Recent court data put together by the American Farm Bureau Federation showed farm bankruptcies jumped by almost 20 percent last year. Overall, there were almost 600 Chapter 12 family farm bankruptcies in 2019, with almost half of the nation’s filings taking place in the Midwest. California had a total of 25 chapter 12 family farm bankruptcies. That number rose seven filings from 2018. In spite of the numbers, last year’s filings didn’t come close to the all-time high of a 33-percent increase back in 2010, the year after the Great Recession.
Over the past ten years, there have been more than 5,000 farm bankruptcies. That number represents a quarter of one percent of all farm operations. NAFB contributed to this report.
Listen to the full report below.
Danielle Leal
Multi-Media Journalist & AgNet News Hour Anchor