In 2016, the pace of new lending to Young, Beginning and Small Farmers, or YBS loans, remained relatively flat, according to a new report by the Farm Credit Administration. Regarding dollar volume, the pace of these loans slightly exceeded the pace of overall farm lending by Farm Credit System institutions. In terms of loan numbers, the pace of YBS lending lagged slightly behind the pace of overall farm lending. From 2015 to 2016, the dollar volume of new loans made to small farmers rose 3.3 percent, while the dollar volume of new loans to young and beginning farmers declined by 1.9 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively. However, since the dollar volume of the Farm Credit System’s overall farm lending declined by 5.4 percent in 2016, the proportion of the system’s dollar volume going to every YBS category actually increased slightly. On the other hand, all three YBS categories experienced slight declines in the number of loans made in 2016. In 2016, a total of 363,988 new farm loans were made, totaling $79.2 billion. The total outstanding farm loan numbers at year-end was just more than one million, amounting to $252.3 billion.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.