Technical Appraisal of the 1960 Sample Survey Estimates of Farm Debt

In the late fall and winter of 1960-61, the Bureau of the Census made a survey of farm debt as part of Its 1960 Sample Survey of Agriculture. This was the first national survey of virtually all types of farm debt ever made in the United States (Alaska and Hawaii were not included). It produced a wealth of information never before available on the distribution of farm debt among the operators and landlords of the various sizes, types, and economic classes of farms. It disclosed the relationships between farm debts of operators and landlords, the farm incomes they received, and the value of the land they owned. Five reports on the results of this survey have been published and several more reports are planned. In this report we attempt to appraise the data on farm debts obtained in the survey. An appraisal is needed to serve as a basis for improving future debt survey techniques. Moreover, it may be useful to those who are preparing, or to those who are reading reports on the survey. Our appraisal indicates that estimates of the farm debt based solely on the survey data result in understatements of the farm debt. Therefore, we include in this report estimates of the farm debt which we have made on the basis of all information available, including the survey data