How many U.S. farm operations filed Chapter 12 bankruptcies in each year from 2019–2026 according to U.S. Courts data?
Executive summary
Publicly available reporting drawn from U.S. Courts figures confirms 2019 as a spike year for Chapter 12 filings—Reuters and related industry reporting cite 595 Chapter 12 farm bankruptcy petitions for calendar year 2019 (U.S. Courts data) while other rolling‑12‑month tallies around that year show slightly different counts depending on the reporting window (e.g., 580 for the 12 months ending Sept. 2019 and 535 for the 12 months ending June 2019) [1] [2] [3]. The sources provided do not contain an authoritative, year‑by‑year table from 2019 through 2026, so a full enumerated series for 2019–2026 cannot be compiled from this reporting alone; available studies and charts offer partial snapshots [4] [5].
1. Known 2019 counts and why numbers vary by report
Multiple outlets quoting U.S. Courts data pinpoint a sharp rise in farm reorganizations in 2019: Reuters reports 595 Chapter 12 filings for calendar year 2019, the U.S. Courts figure cited by several analysts and industry groups [1], while the American Farm Bureau referenced 580 Chapter 12 filings for the 12‑month period ending September 2019 and another Farm Bureau release reported 535 filings for the 12 months ending June 2019—differences that reflect the reporting window and method rather than contradictory evidence about the underlying trend [2] [3].
2. Broader trend context through 2014–2019 and 2022 rate data
USDA Economic Research Service analysis using U.S. Courts quarterly bankruptcy reports found Chapter 12 filings rose 46% from 2014 to 2019, confirming that 2019’s higher counts were part of a multi‑year uptick in farm financial distress rather than a one‑off anomaly [5]. By 2022, ERS reported the Chapter 12 bankruptcy rate had fallen to 0.78 per 10,000 farms—the lowest in nearly two decades—implying substantially fewer absolute filings in 2022 compared with 2019, though ERS published that observation as a rate per 10,000 farms rather than a simple calendar‑year count in the sources provided [4].
3. Why provided sources cannot produce 2019–2026 annual counts
The reporting set includes selective counts (various rolling 12‑month windows in 2019), trend summaries (percent increases 2014–2019), and rate figures (2022 per‑10,000‑farms), but it does not include a complete U.S. Courts table enumerating Chapter 12 filings for each calendar year from 2019 through 2026; therefore it is not possible, based solely on these sources, to list how many farm operations filed Chapter 12 in each year 2019–2026 with definitive, U.S. Courts‑sourced counts [1] [5] [4] [2].
4. Patches and proxies from the sources and their limits
Where reporting offers figures, they must be treated as windows into the data rather than a comprehensive series: 595 Chapter 12 filings for calendar 2019 is the U.S. Courts number commonly cited [1], the 12‑month ending September 2019 figure of 580 and the June‑ending 535 figure show sensitivity to the exact 12‑month interval used [2] [3], and the ERS rate for 2022 indicates a marked decline in filings but does not supply a raw annual total in the extracts provided [4]. Other materials discuss legal thresholds and legislative changes affecting eligibility (e.g., the Family Farmer Relief Act raising the debt cap) but do not supply annual counts for subsequent years [6].
5. Bottom line and recommended next steps for a definitive series
Based on the supplied reporting, the only U.S. Courts‑attributed calendar‑year count explicitly cited here is 595 Chapter 12 filings in 2019, while adjacent reporting offers alternative rolling‑12‑month tallies and later rate indicators that point to a decline by 2022 but do not give per‑calendar‑year totals for 2020–2026 [1] [2] [3] [4]. To assemble an authoritative, year‑by‑year series for 2019–2026 according to U.S. Courts data, the U.S. Courts’ own bankruptcy statistics portal or the quarterly bankruptcy reports from the U.S. Courts should be queried directly; the sources provided here establish the trend and give a definitive 2019 figure but do not contain the full annual series requested [5] [4].