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By Ty Higgins, Ohio Ag Net
For years, Chapter 12 bankruptcy filings have served as the primary measure of financial distress among U.S. farmers. A new data project from the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) and the National Agricultural Law Center (NALC) is expanding that view by also tracking agricultural operations that file under Chapter 11.
The Data on Economic and Bankruptcy Trends in Agriculture, or DEBT project, identifies 1,401 agricultural bankruptcy cases filed from January 2021 through June 2026. Of those, 1,200 were Chapter 12 cases, and 201 were Chapter 11 cases. The project is designed to provide a more complete picture of agricultural financial stress across the country.
“A goal of our memorandum of understanding with the National Agricultural Law Center was to expand collaboration to inform agricultural policy and education,” NASDA CEO Ted McKinney said. “The DEBT project accomplishes exactly that by providing better data and a more complete picture of the economic conditions U.S. farmers are facing.”
For Ohio, the DEBT data shows a smaller share of the national bankruptcy activity than some of the country’s other major agricultural states, but the state is part of a broader Midwest region that has experienced significant financial pressure. The project’s map allows filings to be viewed by state and by chapter, with Ohio’s cases distributed across the state’s federal bankruptcy districts.
Nationally, the increase in Chapter 12 filings in recent years highlights the growing financial pressure on farm operations. Chapter 12 filings totaled 139 in 2023 before increasing to 216 in 2024 and 315 in 2025, a 46% increase in one year.
The Midwest accounted for 121 of the 315 Chapter 12 filings in 2025, the largest regional total in the country. That region includes Ohio along with Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
The new DEBT project is intended to capture financial distress that traditional Chapter 12 statistics can miss. Chapter 12 is specifically designed for family farmers and fishermen with regular annual income and allows eligible operations to reorganize debt while continuing to farm. Chapter 11 is a broader business reorganization option and can be used by agricultural businesses that do not qualify for Chapter 12 because of their income, business structure, debt levels, or other circumstances.
That distinction is particularly important for agriculture, where many farm businesses operate through multiple entities and may have income sources beyond farming.
To identify agricultural operations filing under Chapter 11, NASDA and NALC cross-reference federal bankruptcy records with USDA Farm Service Agency records. When a bankruptcy debtor matched an FSA program recipient by name and address, that information was used as an indicator that the entity was an agricultural operation.
The approach comes with limitations. Not every farm participates in FSA programs, meaning some agricultural Chapter 11 filings may not be captured. The project also counts bankruptcy cases rather than individual farms. A single operation can have multiple entities, such as an operating LLC and a land-holding LLC, that each file separate cases.
“DEBT is a first step in gaining a definitive, foundational picture of agricultural bankruptcy filings in the U.S. from 2021 onward,” NALC Director Harrison Pittman said. “We look forward to collaborating with NASDA and other partners and stakeholders in building on this foundation.”
The data can help identify changes over time, geographic patterns, and emerging financial challenges affecting agricultural operations. These filings can offer a clearer picture of the financial realities facing U.S. agriculture for attorneys, policymakers, researchers, lenders, and others seeking to understand and respond to those challenges.
