Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, many ag lending metrics are showing financial strength, according to the American Bankers Association’s annual Farm Bank Performance Report.
For 2020, total farm lending was $98.6 billion, a slight decrease from 2019.
Agricultural production loan demand declined 6.7% due to rising costs, supply and production bottlenecks, price volatility and an increase in federal cash payments, the report found. Government payments also enabled producers to pay down existing loan balances, according to the report.
Here are some 2020 key numbers in the report:
172,818: Farm banks held 172,818 PPP loans worth $12.7 billion on their balance sheets at year end 2020.
1.8%: Agricultural lending by the nation’s farm banks dipped 1.8% in 2020.
$402.5 billion: Farm banks held $402.5 billion in deposits in 2020, up 18.4% or $62.5 billion year-over-year.
111: The median farm bank will be 111 years old in 2021.
81,000: In 2020, farm banks increased employment by 2.4%, adding almost 2,000 jobs, and employing 81,000 rural Americans.
97.1%: In 2020, around 97% of farm banks were profitable.
This report examines the 2020 performance of the 1,642 banks that specialize in lending to agriculture.
