Farm business financial ratios, , 1996-2000

Resource Region=Heartland

  1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
ITEM Estimate RSE Estimate RSE Estimate RSE Estimate RSE Estimate RSE
Number of farms 210,284 7.4 184,963 3.9 197,312 3.5 209,981 3.7 202,614 6.6
Current ratio (:1) 3.69 9.1 2.65 3.8 2.86 5.2 2.86 8.8 2.91 9.1
Working caital-to-expense ratio (%) 86.82 14.1 54.46 5.3 59.86 7.4 56.75 13.2 62.43 10.1
Debt/asset ratio (%) 14.63 8.0 17.51 3.3 15.59 5.7 14.57 4.4 15.42 5.6
Rate of return on assets (%) 3.58 13.9 2.13 16.0 1.05 44.7 2.00 16.2 1.33 24.6
Rate of return on equity (%) 2.64 20.5 0.70 64.1 -0.44 * 0.73 53.5 -0.07 *
Operating profit margin (%) 14.09 10.6 7.66 14.9 4.32 40.2 8.67 13.9 5.91 22.7
Term debt coverage ratio (times) 4.79 7.1 4.03 5.7 3.40 9.4 3.93 5.9 3.42 7.0
Asset turnover ratio (times) 0.25 7.0 0.28 2.9 0.24 6.4 0.23 3.7 0.23 3.7
Operating expense ratio (%) 73.52 1.7 74.66 1.1 74.83 1.5 74.27 1.6 77.29 1.7
Economic cost-to-output ratio (%) 88.48 6.0 95.92 1.5 101.38 1.9 95.89 5.5 92.65 6.1
* The Relative Standard Error (RSE) exceeds 75 percent.


The Relative Standard Error (RSE) is defined as the standard error of the estimate divided by the estimate. The larger the RSE, the less reliable the estimate.
Source: Agricultural Resource Management Study, USDA.

page updated: January 15, 2002
contact: Mitch Morehart.