ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at how various income and balance sheet items are distributed by sales class, type of farm, and region. The problems faced by the farmers may well be best addressed through rural development policies rather than farm credit and other agricultural policies. Farm equity is distributed about the same as assets, with the largest farms holding about 40 percent of the wealth of the sector. The agricultural sector is far from a homogeneous collection of farms as many people might think. Indeed, the farm sector is diverse, comprised of many different types of farms with different income characteristics. Livestock farms include cattle, hogs and sheep farms, dairy farms, and poultry farms. The financial performance of the farm sector compared to nonfarm businesses can be evaluated using the flow of funds accounts of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
