2008 North Dakota Agricultural Outlook: Representative Farms, 2008-2017

Net farm income for nearly all representative farms in 2017 is projected to be lower than in 2007. Low profit farms, which comprise 20% of the farms in the study, may not have financial resiliency to survive without off-farm income. Commodity prices are expected to fall from current levels, however, the final level is unknown. Two price level scenarios were analyzed. Commodity yields are projected to increase at historical trend-line rates and production expenses are expected to return to normal growth rates after 2009. Debt-to-asset ratios for all farms will decrease slightly throughout the forecast period. Debt-to-asset ratios for the low profit farms are expected to remain near the 0.50 level