Financial stress, expressed as the ability of farmers to repay loans, is important to follow during times of low farm income. A new report “Ohio Agricultural Lending Outlook: Fall 2019,” published by Kevin Kim, Robert Dinterman, and Ani Katchova with the OSU AEDE’s Farm Income Enhancement Program, points to good news for Ohio farmers. The report provides information on agricultural loan volumes and delinquencies for Ohio farmers.
Agricultural loans issued by FDIC insured banks have increased in volume both nationally and in Ohio. For Ohio, the total number of agricultural loans reached $3.8 billion in 2018. There has been a slight uptick in delinquency rates, but they remain under 2%, which is a significant benchmark as delinquency rates remained above 2% for several years following the 2008 Farm Financial Crisis. The average delinquency rate for Ohio farm production loans for the recent 12 months was 1.06%, while for real estate loans it was 1.83%, seeing declines from last year’s rates.