Envesting in an Agricultural Legacy: Impact of a Targeted Young and Beginning Farmer Loan Program in Arkansas

L. Paul Goeringer, Goodwin, Harold L.,, Bruce L. Dixon and Michael Popp

No 124427, 2012 Annual Meeting, August 12-14, 2012, Seattle, Washington from Agricultural and Applied Economics Association

Abstract: America’s agricultural producers continue to age. According to the U.S. Census of Agriculture, the average age of farm operators increased from 55.3 in 2002 to 57.1 in 2007. During the same period, the Census shows a thirty percent decrease in the number of farmers under the age of 25. Young and beginning producers (YBPs) entering agriculture can be faced with high startup costs and the lack of land to own or rent. To address this potential shortage of future farmers, we propose a program for the Farm Credit System to assist YBPs by offering Farm Service Agency guaranteed loans. In this program YBPs are given concessionary interest rates in consideration for adopting conservation and recommended “best” practices. To gauge the impact of the loan program, crop budgets were developed for corn, cotton, rice, soybeans, and wheat prior to participation in the loan program and then budgets were developed to determine the impact on a YBP’s profitability on these five crops from the adoption of no-till, a crop rotation, or a no-till crop rotation. Results found that a YBP’s profitability per acre can be improved by participating in the loan program and the adopting either no-till, a crop rotation, or a no-till crop rotation.

Keywords: Agribusiness; Agricultural Finance; Farm Management; Production Economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 37
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:aaea12:124427

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.124427

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