Farm bankruptcies were down slightly in 2020 but farmers are not out of the woods yet. Chapter 12 family farm bankruptcies totaled 552 filings during 2020, down 43 filings or seven percent from 2019. Nebraska Farm Bureau Senior Economist Jay Rempe says the farm economic deterioration has been going on for a few years now and while some of that has turned around, underlying concerns remain.

He says the agricultural economy in the Northern Plains has been hit the hardest.

Rempe says keys to turning the ag economy around include getting through the impacts of the COVID 19 pandemic, increasing exports and returning to normal demand for biofuels.

Rempe says another concern related to the bankruptcies is that delinquency rates at commercial banks continue to increase.