Federal Reserve reports, graphs show farm economy robust

Farm loan repayment rates (Federal Reserve charts)

Farm loan repayment rates, along with the U.S. agricultural economy in general, are improving rapidly, according to the latest Federal Reserve bank surveys on farm credit conditions in the first quarter of 2021.

Farm income 

"Following multiple years of weakness and growing financial stress, bankers reported that farm income was higher than a year ago for the second consecutive quarter and demand for farm loans was subdued," Nathan Kauffman and Ty Kreitman report for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. "Interest rates on farm loans remained at historic lows, and along with better financial conditions; supported widespread increases in farmland values."

The figures track with independent research from Creighton University agricultural economist Ernie Goss, whose Mainstreet Rural Index has found record economic confidence among Midwestern rural bankers in recent months. Booming farmland prices have also boosted the farming economy, Goss and the Federal Reserve agree.