The financial problem that have gripped agriculture have received a great deal of publicity in recent months. Typically, the publicity has attempted to capture the human emotions and sufferings of those most caught up in the financial stress. Movie and media accounts of the tragedy and of the emotional scars of farm bankruptcies and foreclosures also have portrayed one of the very real aspects of the unusually tough times facing farms and all of agriculture. But such accounts rarely dwell on the causes and the extent of the problems. The following article focuses on these issues, giving particular emphasis to the extent of the problem among farmers and farm lenders.