June 14, 2017
More than ten thousand farms have gone into bankruptcy since 1996, but a new study shows a disproportionate number happened in regions where commodity volatility is highest. According to researchers at Ohio State University, relatively low and stable bankruptcy rates in the corn belt reflect a growing demand for corn and soybeans over the past decade. Farmers in the northeast and southeast have higher levels of financial stress because those farms often raise commodities that don’t have futures contracts and are more susceptible to swings in the marketplace.