Farm bankruptcies were up in 2019 but were still nowhere near the numbers seen during the farm crisis of the mid-1980s. American Farm Bureau Federation Economist Veronica Nigh says the latest study they conducted shows an increase in financial problems in 2019 due to a combination of low commodity prices, weather disasters and the trade war.

However, she says those numbers aren’t as alarming when put into context.

Nigh says farming operations had a better capital cushion going into this low commodity price cycle than in the last financial downturn.

She says many of the farmers that went through the 80s learned some valuable financial lessons. So, they saved up during the boom years at the beginning of the decade and were more resilient than expected.