As farmers look ahead to the end of the year, farm finances are under the spotlight. Kevin Brooks with the University of Illinois Extension says most farms are still in good financial shape, but some are starting to feel pressure.
“The balance sheet is basically a picture of the farm financial situation, the farm financial condition at any given point in time, and just like a stoplight that tells you what you know — red, green, yellow,” says Brooks. “Yellow meaning caution, red meaning stop, green meaning okay to go. We have the same measures on balance sheets, and you can tell a lot. The few farms that I’ve seen where there are difficulties, and again some of them are severe difficulties, but those remain relatively small in number.”
Brooks encourages farmers to take time to build and understand their own balance sheets as they plan for the year ahead.
