2003 NORTH DAKOTA AGRICULTURAL OUTLOOK: REPRESENTATIVE FARMS, 2003-2012

Abstract

Net farm income for all representative farms in 2012 will be lower than in 2003. Low profit farms, which comprise of 25% of the farms in the study, may not have financial resiliency to survive. Costs are projected to increase faster than yields. The new farm bill removes much of the price risk that producers face while placing it on the federal government. Cropland prices and cash rental rates are projected to increase slightly in all regions. Debt-to-asset ratios for most farms will increase slightly throughout the forecast period. Debt-to-asset ratios for the low-profit and small-size farms are higher than those for large and high-profit farms.