Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of single vs multiple lenders by Kansas farms. Previous studies suggest that as the risk level of the firm changes, borrowers desire to enhance the probability of obtaining credit at the lowest possible cost may cause them to use multiple lenders. Design/methodology/approach -A model is adopted from the banking literature to describe farm behavior in obtaining credit from a single vs multiple lenders. Using farm-level data from the Kansas Farm Management Association, an empirical model analyzes how farm characteristics affect the number of lending relationships. A model is developed to analyze the number of lending relationships effect on the profitability of the farm. Findings -It is found that highly leveraged farms seek additional lending relationships supporting the theoretical model and that additional lending relationships correlate to a decrease in profitability. Roughly, 50 percent of Kansas farmers that borrow use a single lender. Roughly 48 percent use from two to four lenders, with the remaining 2 percent using more than four lenders. Originality/value -Provides empirical results to support developed theoretical framework on the number of lending institutions. This study helps understand factors correlated to a farmer's decision to use multiple lenders. Analyzing the number of lending relationships helps understand how farmers manage their debt to maintain access to credit when needed at the lowest possible cost.

We use data from the Kansas Farm Management Association to estimate the impact of crop insurance liability and insurance indemnities on farm debt. Subsidized crop insurance may increase farms' financial risk through a mechanism known as “risk balancing.” Previous findings in support of risk balancing may suffer from bias due to unobservable farm characteristics and simultaneity in insurance and debt decisions. Employing a simultaneous equations model with farm fixed effects, we find no statistical relationship between crop insurance liability and debt, calling into question the risk balancing hypothesis in federal crop insurance. We show that large insurance indemnity payments reduce farms' reliance on short‐term debt, but leave the total debt level unchanged.

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We are pleased to recognize the efforts of the economists who contributed to the Agricultural Finance Review's special issue on Nontraditional Credit in US Agriculture. The group's efforts were led by Brady Brewer (Purdue University) and Jennifer Ifft (Kansas State University) who circulated the original call that resulted in these 11 articles from 34 different authors. USDA provided financial supportthrough a cooperative agreementfor non-USDA authors not otherwise fully supported by their home agency or organization.Understanding the sources of credit for agricultural production is critical for regulators and policymakers concerned with the stability of financial institutions, agricultural production and the welfare of farmers. Research in this special issue sheds new light on nontraditional farm credit by exploring the scope and range of this lending, the services provided to farmers, and the role this credit plays in the agricultural economy.Several of the articles included herein draw heavily on the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) and the Farm Income and Wealth data series, two of USDA's premiere data products. Every year since 1996, ARMS has asked a nationally representative sample of farmers and ranchers a series of detailed questions about their outstanding loan balances, including questions on lender type that underlie one definition of a nontraditional lender. ARMS-based aggregate measures of nontraditional lender activity are included in the sector balance sheet within the Farm Income and Wealth data series. Stretching back even longer (to 1960), USDA's farm sector balance sheet provides loan balances from regulatory and administrative sources alongside an "individuals and others" line item for debt and reflecting the size of the nontraditional sector over time. This research, in addition to highlighting the role of nontraditional lenders, explicitly underlines the value of USDA's commitment to long term data collection in order to understand the structure and dynamics of the agricultural sector.Motivation The financing of production agriculture has become increasingly diverse, in terms of credit delivery and terms, as well as lender type or source of credit. Yet, most agricultural finance research still focuses on traditional agricultural lending relationships. The goal of this special issue is to advance the literature on non-traditional finance in US agriculture and lay a foundation for future research, while also providing insights for farm managers, industry and policymakers. Navigating complex financing options is an integral component of modern farm management. From a policy perspective, financial regulators, such as regional Federal Guest editorial 205

Using data from Oklahoma County, an area severely affected by the increased seismicity associated with injection wells, we recover hedonic estimates of property value impacts from nearby shale oil and gas development that vary with earthquake risk exposure. Results suggest that the 2011 Oklahoma earthquake in Prague, OK, and generally, earthquakes happening in the county and the state have enhanced the perception of risks associated with wastewater injection but not shale gas production. This risk perception is driven by injection wells within 2 km of the properties.