Balance Sheet of the Farming Sector, 1975

The January 1, 1975, value of farm assets totaled $520.2 billion. Debt amounted to $81.8 billion, leaving proprietors’ equity of $438.4 billion. The total figures were records but increases were not; the increase in debt slowed somewhat and the gains in assets and equity were half what they were during 1973. The value of farm real estate showed a $46.1 billion increase, machinery and motor vehicles added another $11.6 billion, and other assets experienced modest increases, but a drop in the value of livestock of $17.8 billion reduced the gain in all assets to $44.3 billion. Total farm debt rose $7.7 billion during 1974; real estate debt increased about 12 percent in 1974 and nonreal estate debt about 10 percent. Revisions in estimates of nonreal estate debt owed to merchants, dealers, and other miscellaneous lenders substantially lowered the farm debt-to-asset ratio. On January 1,1975, the debt-to-asset ratio was 15.7 percent, about the same as a year earlier but down considerably from 16.9 percent on January 1,1973. Substantially higher farm incomes in 1973 and later probably helped reduce farmers' demand for borrowed money. Returns to equity in farm production assets during 1974 was 5.8 percent, substantially higher than the average since 1960 but sharply below the 10.5 percent for 1973, as increased production expenses outran gains in farm income. The Balance Sheet of the Farming Sector now includes data for Alaska and Hawaii beginning with 1960; formerly estimates were available for only the 48 contiguous States through 1968.