Agricultural financial distress can be easy to see but difficult to quantify. Chapter 12 bankruptcy, specifically designed for family farmers and fishermen, has traditionally been used as the sole measurement of that stress in the legal system.
However, agricultural businesses who do not qualify for Chapter 12 may instead file under Chapter 11. For example, many farm families rely on income from outside the farm to keep their operation afloat, potentially disqualifying them from Chapter 12 eligibility. Other families, given the high cost of agricultural inputs and equipment, exceed the amount of debt that is allowable in that chapter. In circumstances like these, filing for Chapter 11 allows the farm to continue operating while developing a plan to restructure and repay its debts.
Until now, the number of farms filing under Chapter 11 has been unknown, and those additional indicators of financial stress unrecognized. The National Agricultural Law Center, together with the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, worked together to identify many of those operations. The result is the Data on Economic and Bankruptcy Trends, or “DEBT” project.
The DEBT project features an interactive map that allows users to explore ag related Chapter 11 & Chapter 12 bankruptcy filings between January 2021 and June 2026. Information can be filtered and viewed by bankruptcy chapter, year, and quarter, allowing users to examine where and when agricultural bankruptcy filings have occurred and identify trends over time. Users can select locations on the map to view individual cases and access additional information, including links to corresponding federal court records. The page also includes access to the underlying dataset.
It was completed in conjunction with SAS, an advanced analytics company that turns data into usable information. Using Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER), an online system providing access to federal court files and case dockets, SAS developed an automated process to cross-reference bankruptcy records with publicly available data from the USDA Farm Service Agency. When an entity appeared in both a bankruptcy filing and FSA program recipient list, it was an indicator that the entity was an agricultural operation.
It is not a perfect indicator. Not all farmers facing significant financial stress file for bankruptcy, not all farm bankruptcies filed were tracked in this new set of data, and alternatives such as Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 are also available, but as of yet uncounted in the current DEBT dataset. But the project and interactive map is a good first step to better recognizing the farm financial stress issue.
Through this project 1,401 agricultural bankruptcies were identified. The majority of those- 1,200- were filed under Chapter 12. However, 201 additional bankruptcies with an agricultural connection were filed under the requirements of Chapter 11. In other words, agricultural bankruptcies over the past 5 years are at least 16% higher than anyone had previously realized.
The information gathered in the DEBT project has also given us more data to forecast 2026 possibilities. In the first half of 2026, there have been at least 208 agricultural bankruptcies: 177 filed under Chapter 12 and 31 under Chapter 11. To compare with last year’s data; at the halfway point of 2026, agricultural bankruptcies reached 61% of the total number recorded in all of 2025. If filings continue at this pace, 2026 would see approximately 416 agricultural bankruptcies- about 22% higher than 2025.
While this project does not solve the problems of farm financial stress, it provides a more comprehensive view of trends across the agricultural sector. The data can help identify changes over time, geographic patterns, and emerging financial challenges affecting agricultural operations. When considered more broadly, these filings offer valuable information for farmers, attorneys, policymakers, researchers, lenders, and others seeking to understand the economic conditions affecting agriculture.
Recommended citation format: Rumley, Elizabeth. “A New Way to See Agricultural Bankruptcy Trends.” Southern Ag Today 6(39.5). September 25, 2026. Permalink
