Balance Sheet of the Farming Sector, 1978, Supplement 1 to AIB 416

Farm assets were valued at $708 billion on January 1,1978, and outstanding debt was $119 billion, leaving farm proprietors an equity of $589 billion. These amounts compare with assets of $655 billion, debt of $103 billion, and equity of $552 billion at the beginning of 1977. Farm real estate value increased $42 billion (9 percent) over the January 1,1977 estimate of $484 billion. Livestock and poultry value of $32 billion was 10 percent above a year earlier. Machinery and motor vehicle value was $75 billion, a 6-percent increase. The value of crops stored was an estimated $25 billion, up 12 percent. The value of household equipment and furnishings rose only slightly, to $15 billion. Financial assets rose about 5 percent to total an estimated $36 billion. Farm debt rose at an accelerated rate. Farm real estate debt outstanding was $63 billion and nonreal estate debt (excluding CCC loans) was $51 billion. CCC loans increased by $3.5 billion to $4.5 billion, a record high. Balance sheets by value of sales class, capital gains on physical assets, farm production assets, and rates of return on equity are reconstructed to reflect revisions in the balance sheet estimates.