Date of Graduation

Fall 2013

Degree

Master of Natural and Applied Science in Agriculture

Department

College of Agriculture

Committee Chair

Arbindra Rimal

Abstract

Farm credit in this study includes subsidized farm loans provided by the federal government through agencies including Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Farm Credit System (FCS) to agricultural producers in Missouri. Farm credit is used for working capital financing and for increasing quality and number of assets. Producers receive farm credits at lower interest rates compared to those provided by the commercial banks. Easy access to these loans for the qualified borrowers is another positive aspect of these loans. Negative aspects of using farm credits include having to qualify for use and the limited amount of credits. The use of farm credit in the state of Missouri varies from county to county. This study examines the factors affecting the use of farm credits in Missouri using countywide data. A structural shift in farm credit use was explored by using data from four different Census of Agriculture. The study uses ordinary least squares regression model (OLS) with fixed-effect to capture the structural change. Results show that credit use is positively affected by interest expense, size of farm, government subsidies, value of machinery and equipment, ratio of cattle to grain, and value of agriculture products sold. Use of farm credit in Missouri has been structurally shifting with highest use during the 1997 agricultural census year.

Keywords

agriculture, regression, variation in credit, farm credit, subsidies

Subject Categories

Agriculture

Copyright

© Caroline Marie Tyler

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