The number of U.S. farm households filing for the special Federal Ch. 12 farm bankruptcy status jumped this April by 130% from April a year ago. There were 62 such filings in April 2026, which though it doesn’t sound like many, it is highly significant given the few and falling number of independent family-scale farms still in operation in the country. The special category called Chapter 12 of the U.S. bankruptcy code was established after the 1980s sweeping farm crisis, to allow farmers to continue to operate while reorganizing their debt. However today, there are a significant number of outright closures taking place.
These current bankruptcy [figures are from]( https://www.law360.com/bankruptcy-authority/articles/2479748/farm-bankruptcies-have-surged-more-likely-to-come) the Law 360 website posting on May 20, “Farm Bankruptcies Have Surged, More Likely To Come,” cited by the Farm Policy News of the University of Illinois. The April farm bankruptcies are the highest monthly total since February 2020, at the time of COVID.
There’s no end in sight, despite statements of “brilliant” bridge aid from Washington DC. Crop farmers (corn, wheat, soybeans, oil seeds, rice, and more) are especially hard hit. “The down period for crop farmers has been going on for several years now. Each year that we don’t start on the upswing is just more and more stress on farmers, and I think the higher diesel prices, the higher fertilizer pries—it’s just made 2026 the breaking point.” This is the expert view quoted by Farm Policy News from Robert E. Moore, at The Ohio State University Extension Service.
