An analysis of default by racial and ethnic minorities is estimated for direct farm loans made by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) in fiscal 2005. Logit model results indicated that when controlling for creditworthiness, Blacks who received FSA direct loans had higher default rates suggesting...

An analysis of the characteristics of farm businesses by size of FCS direct lending association suggests that further consolidation of FCS lending should have limited negative impacts on credit availability. Commercial-sized farm businesses with FCS real estate debt appeared similar to those who...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture provides subsidized credit to high-risk farm borrowers unable to obtain credit from commercial sources. To boost incomes and to relieve financial stress, Farm Service Agency programs can provide additional interest rate subsidies to borrowers. However, when...

Government programs to assist beginning farmers enjoy strong political support. Current Federal programs use credit enhancements to help beginning farmers purchase commercial farms; but higher debt loads increase financial risk. Future Federal policy may need to go beyond traditional credit...

Demand for federally subsidized farm credit varies regionally, with farm borrowers in some regions very dependent on USDA credit programs. Counties are grouped based on their level of demand for Farm Service Agency (FSA) direct farm ownership (FO) and farm operating loans (OL). Ordinal probit...

Despite the proliferation of banking offices occurring since banking deregulation, about one-third of all counties in the US were still considered to have little competition with respect to agricultural credit. Counties considered less competitive were located in regions where farming is less...

Past research on agricultural loan pricing is not extensive and has been hampered by a lack of suitable data. The Farm Service Agency (FSA) has guaranteed approximately 5 percent of farm debt of the Farm Credit System (FCS) and banks, the primary lenders to agriculture. As a requirement of the...

A binomial logit model was used to analyze relationships between financial characteristics and loan performance for FSA direct borrowers receiving direct FO or OL loans in fiscal 2005. Not surprisingly, the results indicate a strong and direct relationship between many key financial variables...

The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 made permanent the interest assistance program for the Farm Service Agency's guaranteed loans, authorized a significant increase in funding for the program, and targeted funding for beginning farmers and ranchers. The research presented here...