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 ING SERVICE 



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 ^''^/^ MONTANA 



.AGRICULTURE 



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(406) 449-5303 



MONTANA 



Agricultural 



Finance 

 Summary 



MONTANA 



DEPARTMENT of 



AGRICULTURE 



71 



"A 



STATE DOCUMENTS COLLI 



FEB 6- 19^ 



) 444-3144 



This publication provides a summary of two surveys that were conducted 

 to help identify the extent and severity of agricultural credit problems in Mon- 

 tana. 



SURVEY PROCEDURE 



We mailed questionnaires asking about farm credit to about 1,500 farm- 

 ers, all 175 commercial banks, the Farm and Home Administration (FmHA), Produc- 

 tion Credit Associations (PCAs), and Federal Land Banks (FLBs). Non- respondents 

 were contacted by teleohone 



RESULTS OF FARM OPERATOR SURVEY 



Results of the farm operators survey show that 18 percent of Montana 

 farmers are delinquent on real estate loan payments. A breakdown shows that 

 about half of those have been able to stay current on interest payments only. 

 The delinquency rate is somewhat higher among farms of less than a thousand 

 acres, averaging 25 to 29 percent. 



ONLY 7 OUT OF 10 CURRENT ON OPERATING LOANS 



For non-real estate or loans used to purchase operating equipment and 

 supplies 31 percent of the state's farmers are delinquent in their payments. 

 However, 51 percent of those are current on interest payments only. All sizes 

 of operations seem to be having trouble keeping current on operating loans, but 

 those under 1,000 acres in size are runn 1 ng' above average on delinquency, while 

 those between 1,000 and 2,000 acres are below average. 



LOAN DELINQUENCY RATE BY SIZE OF FARM 



Interest rates averaged 10.4 percent for real estate and 13.9 percent 

 for non-real estate loans. Six percent of the survey respondents had been denied 

 credit between January and September 1984. About 4 out of 10 were able to obtain 

 creditelsewhere. 



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