Flow-ofFunds Social Accounts for the Farm Sector

Abstract

Flow-of-funds accounts and component sources-and-uses-of-funds statements relate changes in balance sheet accounts to income statements, describing movement from one balance sheet to the next. While the Federal Reserve System compiles a farm business sector sources-and-uses-of-funds statement consistent with and part of the national How-of-funds accounts, the statement is not definitionally and conceptually consistent with published farm income and balance sheet accounts. An alternative farm sector sources-and-uses-of-funds statement is pro-posed that contains these features, and its potential applications and extensions are delineated. POLICY AND PREDICTIVE questions facingagricultural economists today increasinglyinvolve a financial dimension. These ques-tions require analysts to relate farm income streams and other sources of funds to changes in balance sheet items. Often comparisons are needed on a sector or subsector basis as well as for national aggregates. We suggest that few agricultural economists are familiar with social accounts that treat financial questions involvin