2005 NORTH DAKOTA AGRICULTURAL OUTLOOK: REPRESENTATIVE FARMS, 2005-2014

Net farm income for all representative farms in 2014 is projected to be lower than in 2004. Low-profit farms, which comprise 25% of the farms in the study, may not have financial resiliency to survive without off-farm income. Costs are projected to increase faster than yields, which will pressure net farm income downward. Cropland prices and cash rental rates are projected to increase slightly in all regions. Debt-to-asset ratios for most farms will decrease slightly throughout the forecast period. Debt-to-asset ratios for the low-profit and small-size farms are higher than those for large and high-profit farms.