Balance Sheet of the Farming Sector, 1976, Supplement 1 to AIB No. 403

Farm assets were valued at $634.3 billion on January 1,1977, and outstanding debt was $101.8 billion, leaving farm proprietors an equity of $532.5 billion. These amounts compare with assets of $560.4 billion, debt of $90.8 billion, and equity of $469.6 billion at the beginning of 1976. During 1976, farm real estate value increased $64.0 billion (16 percent) over the revised January 1, 1976, estimate of $397.3 billion. Farm real estate value has been revised downward for the years 1971-76, based on new data collected in the 1974 Census of Agriculture. Livestock and poultry value of $29.1 billion on January 1,1977, was slightly below the value of a year earlier. Machinery and motor vehicles were valued at $73.0 billion, an 11-percent increase from the beginning of 1976. The value of crops stored was an estimated $20.0 billion on January 1, 1977, about the same as a year earlier. The value of household equipment and furnishings rose about 7 percent and on January 1, 1977, stood at $17.4 billion. Financial assets rose about 5 percent to total an estimated $33.5 billion at the beginning of 1977. Farm debt rose at a slightly faster rate than during 1975. On January 1, 1977, farm real estate debt outstanding was $56.1 billion and nonreal estate debt (excluding CCC loans) was $44.7 billion. CCC loans increased from $0.3 billion on January 1,1976, to $1.0 billion on January 1,1977, the highest level since 1973. Balance sheets by value of sales class, capital gains on physical assets, farm production assets, and rates of return on equity were reconstructed to reflect revisions in farm real estate values.