The American Bankers Association crunched the numbers and found while the amount of farm banks in the nation shrank, farm loans increased.
The data in the West, which includes Arizona, shows that in 2015 loans went up by seven percent, which translates to $600 million.
That report does not include the government-run Farm Service Agency, which provides loans to farmers.
Arizona FSA director Gloria Montaño said her department hasn’t seen an increase overall, but has seen more new farmers looking for micro-loans. Those loans have a more streamlined application process and can be up to $50,000.
“I think there’s a lot of work being done to think about this next generation of farmers," she said. "New farmers, beginning farmers, people that haven’t traditionally been in farming.”
Montaño said the Arizona FSA issued about $16 million in farm loans last year, four percent of which were micro-loans.
