New tool helps farmers track financial strength

By Erica Quinlan

equinlan@shawmedia.com

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture has launched “Trends in the U.S. Farm Balance Sheet,” an interactive data visualization tool built using farm income and wealth statistics.

“The tool is designed to make national balance sheet data easier to explore, compare and apply,” said Josh Strine, a graduate research assistant at Purdue University.

“Discussions about farm financial conditions often focus on income and margins. While those measures matter, the balance sheet provides a broader picture of long-term financial health — capturing changes in assets, debt, equity and leverage over time.”

The Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture launched “Trends in the U.S. Farm Balance Sheet.” The tool is based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service Farm Income Team’s visualization, “Digging into the U.S. Farm Balance Sheet.” The data visualization will be updated with each release of the ERS’s “Farm Income and Wealth Statistics.” (Provided graphic/Purdue University Center for Commercial Agriculture)

The tool allows users to:

• Explore changes by asset type, debt category and lender.

• Track key financial ratios over time.

• View mapped state-level farm real estate values.

All charts and figures can be downloaded, along with the underlying data, based on the user’s selected filters.

Users can adjust filters, switch between views and download figures that are most relevant to their query.

Check out the tool at https://tinyurl.com/Farm-Balance-Sheet.