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Farm bankruptcy filings up in 2025, law center says

The National Agricultural Law Center says farm bankruptcies are on pace to increase in 2026.

Senior staff attorney Elizabeth Rumley tells Brownfield, “At the halfway point of 2026, ag bankruptcies have already reached 61% of the total number recorded in all of 2025. That would be 288 Chapter 12s in 2025 and 52 Chapter 11s.”

She says if the current trend holds, ag bankruptcies could finish the year 22% higher than last year.

“The data says that United States agriculture is still indicating economic distress. The numbers for bankruptcies going up in the first half of 2026 indicates that producers are still seeing the same challenges that they saw in 2025.”

Rumley says the center’s data could offer valuable information for farmers, attorneys, policymakers, researchers, and lenders seeking to understand the economic conditions affecting agriculture.

She revealed the new farm bankruptcy data during the recent NASDA annual meeting in Portland, Maine.