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The purpose of this paper is to identify determinants of feasible outcome events (expired with no loss, settled for loss, still performing) and time to event of Farm Service Agency (FSA) operating and farm ownership (FO) loan guarantees.

Data on 19,126 FSA guaranteed loans, which were made by various lenders to farmers who have limited ability to obtain loans from normal sources without the Federal guarantee, were collected. Cox proportional hazards models for operating loans (OLs) and FO loans are estimated to identify borrower characteristics, loan characteristics, lender types, and farm and macroeconomic environment factors that influence guarantee outcomes.

Loans with different characteristics (loan amount, loan term, lender type, region originated) and assistance programs (Beginning Farmer, Interest Assistance) have differing guarantee outcomes. Contemporaneous variables, in particular delinquency status, have a significant impact on guarantee outcomes.

All loans were originated in calendar years 2004 and 2005. Since FO loans may have as long as 40 year terms, results are not as robust for FO loans as for OLs.

Different loan characteristics and macroeconomic conditions significantly influence the occurrence of possible guarantee outcomes and time to the outcomes.

Guaranteed loans are the primary method of government credit assistance to US farm operators. Data on individual borrowers have been difficult to obtain for much of the life of the guaranteed program because loan applications are held privately. This study provides insight on how various factors drive guarantee performance which is useful to policy makers trying to increase guaranteed loan program efficiency.

Federal farm credit programs currently administered by the USDA were initiated in the early 1900s to help the farm sector cope with natural disasters, and these programs have continued to evolve. There has been a rich history of research analyzing USDA farm credit programs and the effects they have had on farmers, ranchers, and credit markets. This paper highlights past research and offers a view of the future direction of research on federal farm credit programs.

Chapter 12 bankruptcy filing rates from 1986 to 2001 are compared with farm bankruptcy rates from 1898 1979. Data are also presented on Chapter 12 discharge rates. Although Chapter 12 filings are reorganizations and exclude liquidations, Chapter 12 filings per farm in the 1990s exceeded filing rates in earlier decades with comparable economic conditions. Higher proportions of Chapter 12 cases filed in the 1990s failed to receive discharges than Chapter 12 cases filed in the late 1980s. This finding may indicate more debt restructurings are taking place outside of Chapter 12 and that a higher proportion of filings are “hard cases.”

The Farm Service Agency (FSA) direct farm loan program provides credit to family‐sized farms including those operated by beginning farmers and socially disadvantaged applicants. Approximately 37% of all U.S. farms are estimated to be eligible for FSA direct loans when farm size, credit needs, farming experience, and occupation are taken into account. However, market penetration rates for various borrower cohorts range from 0.8% to 4.6% for FY 2000S2003. In general, beginning farmers have weaker financial characteristics than non‐beginning farmers. Yet, the same result is not found when comparing socially disadvantaged farmers with non‐socially disadvantaged farmers, such that there are few significant differences or the differences in financial characteristics are mixed. Overall, results indicate FSA direct farm loan borrowers have weaker financial characteristics than eligible, non‐FSA direct farm loan borrowers, implying FSA is serving farmers likely to be denied credit by commercial lenders.

The purpose of this paper is to apply duration methods to a sample of Farm Service Agency (FSA) direct, seven‐year operating loans to identify those variables that influence the time to loan termination and type of termination. Variables include both those known at time of loan origination and those that characterize the changing economic environment over the life of the loan. Also, to examine the impact of various FSA programs promoting policy objectives.

A systematic sample of 877 seven‐year, FSA direct loans originated between October 1, 1993 and September 30, 1996 was collected. Cox regression, competing risks models are estimated as a function of borrower and loan characteristics observable at loan origination. Economic indicator variables emphasizing the farm economy and observed quarterly over the life of the loan are also included as explanatory variables.

Loan characteristics, borrower financial characteristics and degree of borrower interaction with FSA observable at origin are significant variables in determining type of loan outcome (default or paid‐in‐full) and time to outcome. Changes in the economic environment and farm economy during the life of the loan are significant.

The sample consists only of FSA direct loans which implies borrowers are at financial margin. Application of method to agricultural loans from conventional commercial lenders could identify different significant factors.

Using length of time to loan termination instead of just type of outcome provides for a richer analysis of loan performance. Loan performance over time is influenced by the larger economy and should be incorporated into loan performance modeling.

The study described in the paper demonstrates use of competing risks models on intermediate agricultural loans and develops how this technique can be used to learn about dynamic aspects of loan performance. Sample consists of observations on individual FSA direct loan borrowers. The FSA direct loan program is the major source of credit for agricultural borrowers at the financial margin.

The purpose of this paper is to estimate a three‐equation model of US commercial bank usage of the Farm Service Agency's (FSA) guaranteed operating loan and interest assistance programs. Also, to identify the key farm and banking variables that affect the decision to use loan guarantees and the volume of loans with interest assistance.

A triple hurdle, three‐equation system is estimated to model three decisions: to participate in the FSA operating loan program; whether to use interest assistance given the decision to participate in the operating loan program; and then the degree of participation in the interest assistance program. Statistical selection is modeled. Data on almost all commercial banks in the USA from 1995 to 2003 are used in the estimation sample.

Statistical selection is statistically significant so selection must be included in the models. Variables reflecting state‐level characteristics such as farm debt servicing ratio, individual bank loan‐to‐asset ratio, bank size and the general guaranteed loan and interest assistance environment are significant in all three equations. Intensity of interest assistance use varies markedly across states.

The interest assistance program has high subsidy costs and is an important source of support for financially marginal farmers. Scant prior research has investigated this program. The present study also shows that modeling interest assistance usage must be embedded in a larger model to give a complete specification.

The purpose of this chapter is to present a model (Beginning, Acting, Telling (BAT) model) developed for the elementary-school classroom that integrates features identified by research into information-seeking behavior and information literacy.

The chapter provides an overview of research in the areas of information-seeking behavior and information literacy and models in which they have intersected (namely, the Information Search Process (ISP) model) to provide a theoretical framework in which to situate the BAT model. Examples from previous empirical studies conducted by the author that informed the model are provided.

A preliminary iteration of the BAT model has successfully been piloted in two third-grade classrooms in Buffalo, New York. Plans are underway to introduce the model to a wider audience.

The BAT model with its use of image and mnemonic cues can be used to teach the research process to students, beginning in the earliest grades of elementary school.

This chapter is the first time the final iteration of the BAT model has been presented. It is the first model integrating features inherent in information-seeking behavior and information literacy that also makes use of imagery and mnemonic.

The Howard Shuttering Contractors case throws considerable light on the importance which the tribunals attach to warnings before dismissing an employee. In this case the tribunal took great pains to interpret the intention of the parties to the different site agreements, and it came to the conclusion that the agreed procedure was not followed. One other matter, which must be particularly noted by employers, is that where a final warning is required, this final warning must be “a warning”, and not the actual dismissal. So that where, for example, three warnings are to be given, the third must be a “warning”. It is after the employee has misconducted himself thereafter that the employer may dismiss.