The relative financial performance of African American farms in the United States since the Great Recession

Abstract

AbstractUsing data from the 2009–2020 Agricultural Resource Management Surveys, we compare the financial position and performance of African American farms to that of other U.S. farms. The results suggest that, relative to others, the average African American farm has lower total value of production, net cash farm income, government payments, assets, and debts. We obtained mixed results regarding financial performance, with African American farms having lower profitability, liquidity, and efficiency than others but higher solvency. To our knowledge, this study is the first to provide a contemporary overview of the status of African American farms using detailed, farm‐level financial data.