The complexity of trying to allocate farm household financial accounts between farm and nonfarm activities was a key reason behind the change to a methodology excluding farm household assets and debts. It also includes automobiles, trucks and farm machinery leased to farm operators.īecause of data and other limitations, ERS has not developed a sector-level balance sheet of agriculture that includes household assets and debts since 1992. This set includes farm real estate assets leased from non-operator landlords and the liabilities outstanding on these assets. The balance sheet is designed to account for only the set of farm assets and liabilities used in the production of agricultural products. The balance sheet of the agricultural sector provides a snapshot of the sector's assets, debts, and equity as of December 31 or as close to the end of the year that the source data will allow.
This documentation covers the information contained in the farm sector balance sheet, as well the estimation methodologies and data sources used in generating the individual balance sheet components. The balance sheet is also useful in estimating the volume, value, and kinds of physical and financial resources that are available for agricultural production or that could be released for nonfarm purposes. Balance sheet analyses help guide credit use for expanding or changing farming enterprises. Since first constructed in 1944, the annual balance sheet has been used to measure and compare changes in the agriculture sector’s capital and financial position over time. USDA originally compiled the balance sheet to measure the effect of World War II and postwar adjustments on the financial position of farmers. The balance sheet of the agricultural sector provides estimates of the value of the physical and financial assets in the U.S.