Show THIS T H I 1 S WEEK in washington with clinton david Davids every year along about this time the U US S department of agriculture issues what it calls a balance sheet for agriculture to show just how farmers are doing the 1956 report may surprise you you could cite the figures to show that although some farmers are having serious troubles agriculture as a whole has prosper ed during the past few years if all farmers were average there would pt be much to worry about the balance sheet is made up from an inventory of farm assets and liabilities taken at the start of each year the 1086 1050 report shows that the net worth of farmers increased by 2 5 billion over a year earlier farm farin assets this year reached a record 1701 billion a figure more than three times that of 1940 and a third higher than in 1950 the average per fanner farmer has increased more because there are 25 percent fewer farmers than in 1940 and 10 percent few r than in 1850 1950 I 1 the department concedes that there has been some slowing down in the rise of net farm worth A year ago it reported an increase of 4 billion over a year earlier most alost of the increase in farm assets has been due to a rise in land prices last year farm roal real estate values increased by br 3 9 billion to a total of 1027 billion on other increases were million in the value of machinery million in household furnishings and million each in U S savings bonds and investments in cooperatives arid add those and you get a total increase of 53 billion in farm assets over the 1955 figures that I 1 is the brighter side of the picture there is another and far less favorable side on the debit side the value of livestock took a million tumble to 10 8 billion the lowest in many years crops stored on farms and under loans decreased in value from 9 6 billion to 83 billion both decreases were due to the decline in farm prices furm farm debt other than that money borrowed against crops put under loans showed the biggest increase in many years the 16 9 billion total was 14 1 4 billion above a year earlier and the highest since the big boom bof ot the early farm form mortgage debt increased by nearly 10 percent jumping from 82 billion to 8 9 billion and non real estate borrowings increased by million to 44 4 4 billion total in addition farmers owed merchants and other suppliers an estimated 3 5 billion up over million while most of the increases were in book values UK tit declines were in the things farmers sell cash income from was down by about million due entirely to lower prices for crops and livestock sold A 2 per cent rise in farm supply prices added an extra million to the cost of farm operation at the start of the year farmers had billion in currency and bank deposits and that was the same as a year earlier seven out of 10 farmers had no mortgage on their farm and that too was the same as a year earlier |