Chapter 12 Bankruptcies Up Nearly 20% in 2019

There were 595 Chapter 12 family farm bankruptcies reported in 2019, up nearly 100 from 2018 and the highest level since 2011, when there were 637 such filings, reports the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF). It’s unclear how many of these farms were dairies, but Wisconsin led the nation with 57 Chapter 12 filings in 2019. “Wisconsin farm bankruptcies were up 8 filings from the prior year and were also the highest level in a decade,” reports John Newton, AFBF chief economist. (Note: Wisconsin lost 818 dairy farms last year, a full 10% of its licensed dairy farms.) Minnesota, Ohio and South Dakota, all strong dairy states, were also among the top 10 states with Chapter 12 filings. Even though the percentage increase  in Chapter 12 bankruptcies is large, keep in mind that there are 2 million farms in the United States. So the rate of Chapter 12 bankruptcies per 10,000 farms was just 2.95 in 2019. That was just below the peak filing rate of 2.99 per 10,000 farms in 2011...MORE