2019 was the third-highest year for farm bankruptcy filings, according to American Farm Bureau Federation Senior Economist Veronica Nigh. Nigh says high commodity prices contributed to a dramatic drop in filings in 2022. “Stronger farm income was beneficial last year, but USDA is projecting a decline in farm income in 2023.” The upper Midwest saw an average decline of 67 percent in bankruptcy filings. “Part of the reason the region had such a strong decline, was because it was the area with the largest number of bankruptcies before that. In 2022, the Midwest had 47 farm bankruptcies, down from 297 in 2020.”
