US farm bankruptcy rates jumped 20% in 2019 -- to an eight-year high -- as financial woes in the US agricultural economy continued in spite of massive federal bail-out funding, according to federal court data, reports Reuters.
According to data released this week by the United States Courts, family farmers filed 595 Chapter 12 bankruptcies in 2019, up from 498 filings a year earlier. The data also shows that such filings - known as “family farmer” bankruptcies - have steadily increased every year for the past five years.
Farmers across the nation also have retired or sold their farms because of the financial strains, changing the face of Midwestern towns and concentrating the business in fewer hands.
