Publications: Finance

and Credit
Financing the Farm: A Law Bulletin Series
on Legal Arrangements for Farm Financing
Peggy Kirk Hall, Associate Professor- Agricultural and Resource Law Program; Ohio State University
Extension
Evin Bachelor, Law Fellow- Agricultural and Resource Law Program; Ohio State University Extension

New farmers are exposed to a number of different finance and credit instruments when they start
to build their farm businesses. Fortunately, this allows them access to capital for purchasing land,
equipment, livestock, inputs and supplies. Unfortunately, lenders do not always explain the legal
components and implications of these documents to a beginning farmer. This series provides new
and beginning farmers with an overview of the most commonly used documents in agricultural
finance. Each law bulletin covers a different type of financial agreement, and explains basic
terminology, fundamental legal requirements, and how the arrangement is used in farming
operations.

Financing the Farm: Series Overview

Financing the Farm: Installment Contracts
Financing the Farm: Leasing Arrangements
Financing the Farm: Mortgages
Financing the Farm: Promissory Notes
Financing the Farm: Secured Transactions
Financing the Farm: Statutory Liens

Download combined factsheets Posted 10/16/19, Last updated 7/27/20

Updated Statutory Agricultural Lien Charts

Elizabeth Springsteen Staff Attorney  and

Jennifer Fiser Research Associate National Agricultural Law Center

State statutory liens on agricultural products, equipment and production inputs are nonconsensual
interests. The liens arise by operation of law, without the consent of the lien debtor, when the
specific requirements of the statutes creating the lien are met. These liens may be scattered
throughout a state’s code. Moreover, statutory provisions as to filing and priority of these liens may
vary greatly among the states, and even within a single state. These Statutory Agricultural Lien
Charts, originally published in 1993 and thoroughly reviewed and updated in 2009, compile and
tabulate the main provisions of statutory agricultural liens in all fifty states.       Download this
article. Posted: March 4, 2009.

Rabobank Offer to Purchase FCS of

America
Doug O’Brien Senior Staff Attorney The National AgLaw Center

This article considers the legal facets of the Farm Credit Services of America resolution to terminate
its status as a Farm Credit System Institution so that it could become a wholly owned subsidiary of
Rabobank. Specifically, the article examines the possibility of approval of such a termination
application by the Farm Credit Administration and the stockholders of Farm Credit Services of
America.    Download this article. Posted:  Oct. 18, 2004

The Enforcement of Money Judgments

Across Indian Reservation Boundaries
Robert Laurence Professor University of Arkansas School of Law
In the rural areas of the American West, many conflicts arise that must be settled in either tribal or
state court.  As with judgments everywhere, some are not paid voluntarily, and the judgment
creditor must use coercive enforcement to collect the debt.  When the judgment is enforceable
against property that lies within the jurisdiction that issued the judgment, then that jurisdiction’s
body of enforcement law must be used.  But when enforcement must be sought in another
jurisdiction, complicated problems of cross-boundary comity and respect arise.  When one of the
jurisdictions is a tribal court and one is a state court, the issues become complex and involve an
intricate mix of tribal, state and federal law.  The purpose of this article is to introduce those
unfamiliar with the field of American Indian law to this mix and to the various and conflicting
approaches that courts and commentators have taken to the problem, with special attention given
to problems that might affect the farming community.   Download this article. Posted: July 24, 2002.

Statutory Agricultural Liens Under Revised

Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code
Susan A. Schneider Associate Professor and Director Graduate Program in Agricultural Law University of
Arkansas School of Law

It has been said that Revised Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code was designed to bring
greater certainty to financing transactions, thus reducing the overall cost of credit.  This broad goal
is to be accomplished by expanding the scope of Article 9 and clarifying the rules governing security
interests.  One specific example of this expansion is the inclusion of agricultural