Purpose -The purpose of this research is to evaluate the financial performance measures calculated and reported by the Economic Resource Service (ERS) from Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) data. The evaluation includes the calculation method and the underlying assumptions used in obtaining the reported values. Recommendations for improving the information reported are proposed to ERS. Design/methodology/approach -The financial measures calculated and reported are compared with those recommended by the Farm Financial Standards Council (FFSC). The underlying assumptions are identified by analyzing the software code used in calculating the values reported. The values reported by ERS are duplicated and alternative methods for calculating the financial performance measures are considered. The values obtained from the various calculation methods are compared and contrasted. Findings -Recommendations for ERS include: calculate and report the financial measures recommended by FFSC, note values that are imputed, periodically update and validate assumptions used in calculating imputed values, review its policy for flagging estimates as statistically unreliable, report medians and other select percentiles, and consider reporting the percent of farm businesses that have values within critical zones. Originality/value -A total of four methods for calculating financial performance measures are compared and contrasted. These are the aggregate mean, sample mean, sample median, and percentage of farm businesses with values in critical zones.

Purpose While progress has been made in the realm of teaching about sustainability to business students, integrating sustainability into experiential learning with a systemic mindset has been identified by leading scholars as an area for improvement. The purpose of this paper is to describe a pilot project in which students prepared a sustainability report for a client company and to answer the question of whether the experiment yielded the anticipated benefits. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents an initiative that was part of an MBA course delivered at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences in Poland by an international team of professors. The multinational group of students was confronted with the task of preparing an integrated sustainability report for a large corporation. Findings The initiative creates opportunities for both students and commercial organizations to understand large business commercial activities from a sustainability perspective. This paper identifies the next steps for others to build upon. Originality/value The paper explains the experiential learning opportunity that was created, describes how students rose to meet the challenge, discusses the benefits that accrued to students, professors and a commercial organization and shares some guidance for those seeking to emulate this practice.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine credit usage by beginning farmers and ranchers (BFR). BFR credit usage is stratified by location (state) and by socially disadvantaged farmer and rancher (SDFR, also known as historically underserved) status. SDFR groups are defined to include women; individuals with Hispanic, Latino or Spanish Origin; individuals who identify as American Indian or Alaskan Native, Black or African American, Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. Non-SDFR is defined as individuals who identify as non-Hispanic, White men.Design/methodology/approachThe US Department of Agriculture’s Census of Agriculture, Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) is linked with Farm Service Agency (FSA) loan program administrative data to estimate shares of BFR operations using FSA credit. Census data provided information on population changes in total farms and BFR operations from 2012 to 2017 which are compared by SDFR status.FindingsResults reveal differences among BFR operations active in agricultural credit markets by SDFR status and state. BFR were more common among SDFR groups as well as in regions where farms tend to be smaller, such as the Northeast, compared to a more highly agricultural upper Midwest. Among BFR, non-SDFR are more likely to utilize credit than SDFR, however, FSA appeared to be crucial in enabling BFR and especially beginning SDFR groups to access loans.Originality/valueThe results are timely and of keen interest to researchers, industry and policymakers and are expected to assist in developing and adjusting policies to effectively promote and improve BFR success in general and for beginning SDFR groups.

A recurrent topic in the macroeconomic literature is the financial accelerator—the notion that informational asymmetries introduce inefficiencies to financial markets which amplify and propagate the effects of real or monetary shocks. With the purpose of finding empirical evidence that is consistent with a financial accelerator operating in the cattle sector, inventory investment models are estimated with an appended cash flow variable. The inclusion of cash flow is motivated by the notion that investment by credit-constrained farms should be sensitive to movements in internal funds. Results are consistent with the financial accelerator operating in the feeder cattle but not in the cow-calf sector. Copyright 1998, Oxford University Press.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to apply duration methods to a sample of Farm Service Agency (FSA) direct, seven-year operating loans to identify those variables that influence the time to loan termination and type of termination. Variables include both those known at time of loan origination and those that characterize the changing economic environment over the life of the loan. Also, to examine the impact of various FSA programs promoting policy objectives. Design/methodology/approach -A systematic sample of 877 seven-year, FSA direct loans originated between October 1, 1993 and September 30, 1996 was collected. Cox regression, competing risks models are estimated as a function of borrower and loan characteristics observable at loan origination. Economic indicator variables emphasizing the farm economy and observed quarterly over the life of the loan are also included as explanatory variables. Findings -Loan characteristics, borrower financial characteristics and degree of borrower interaction with FSA observable at origin are significant variables in determining type of loan outcome (default or paid-in-full) and time to outcome. Changes in the economic environment and farm economy during the life of the loan are significant.Research limitations/implications -The sample consists only of FSA direct loans which implies borrowers are at financial margin. Application of method to agricultural loans from conventional commercial lenders could identify different significant factors. Practical implications -Using length of time to loan termination instead of just type of outcome provides for a richer analysis of loan performance. Loan performance over time is influenced by the larger economy and should be incorporated into loan performance modeling. Originality/value -The study described in the paper demonstrates use of competing risks models on intermediate agricultural loans and develops how this technique can be used to learn about dynamic aspects of loan performance. Sample consists of observations on individual FSA direct loan borrowers. The FSA direct loan program is the major source of credit for agricultural borrowers at the financial margin.