Farmland Ownership and Its Impact on the Debt Servicing Capacity Among U.S. Married-Couple Farm Households

Abstract

Farmland ownership among U.S. farm businesses constitutes the major type of farm tenure arrangements as only about 8 percent of all farms are operated under full rental agreements. This research seeks to discern the impact of full-ownership of farmland, which accounts for nearly two-thirds of how farms are operated, on the debt servicing capacity of married U.S. farm couples. Findings based on data from the 2004-2013 Agricultural Resource Management Survey along with regression procedures indicated a strong and statistically significant positive impact of farmland ownership on the ability of these farm households to service their debt. Increases in unemployment rates and the occurrence of the 2008 economic recession were among the factors that were found with a strong adverse impact on debt servicing capacity.