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1 1 (March 15, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govyiv0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional *.Research Service Farm Debt and Chapter 12 Bankruptcy Eligibility March 15, 2019 As farm income has declined over multiple years since 2013, the number of reported farm bankruptcies has begun to increase. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis observed that Chapter 12 farm bankruptcies increased in 2018 across the Midwest and appear to be higher among dairy farms. The American Farm Bureau Federation has compiled farm bankruptcy data from the U.S. Courts at the national level. According to this data, in 2018, 498 U.S. farms filed for Chapter 12 bankruptcy, nearly constant with 501 farm bankruptcies in 2017 (a rate of about 2.5 per 10,000 farms). The continuing steady number of farm bankruptcies at the national level masks an increase in filings across 19 states, particularly in the upper Midwest where a 19% rise in annual Chapter 12 filings has occurred since 2017. Wisconsin had 47 Chapter 12 bankruptcies in 2018, one-third more than the next highest state (Nebraska) and 18% above the number in Wisconsin in 2016. Chapter 12 of the Bankruptcy Code is reserved for family farmers and family fishermen (11 U.S.C. 120 1- 1232). It allows financially distressed farmers and fishermen to restructure their debt and remain in operation. Chapter 12 was designed to be less complicated, less expensive, and more appropriate for farmers than other types of bankruptcy, such as Chapter 11, which is better suited to large corporations, or Chapter 13, which is designed for wage earners who typically have smaller debts. To qualify for Chapter 12, family farmers must meet several eligibility requirements (11 U.S.C. 10 1(18)), including that their total debt is less than $4.153 million (as adjusted for inflation every three years; 11 U.S.C. 104), that at least half of the debt is farm business debt, and that at least half of their gross income is from farming. A policy concern has arisen over whether the $4.153 million Chapter 12 debt limit should be raised to allow larger farms to qualify for this bankruptcy option in light of recent family farm financial stress, the rise in the number of bankruptcies, and the growth in the average size of farms. While the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has published some tables that summarize how farms use debt, those data do not measure combinations of debt at the $4 million Chapter 12 threshold nor include non-farm debt. Additional data obtained from the USDA Economic Research Service allow for the following observations about total household debt per family farm: Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN11073 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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