Document Type

Circular

Publication Date

12-1932

Department

Agricultural Economics Department

Circular Number

7

Keywords

Mortgage, Life Insurance, Farm Management, Agricultural Economics, Land Use Policy

Description

Life insurance funds play an important part in supplying farm mortgage credit. This source of credit has increased rapidly during the last twenty years and is now one of the principal sources of farm mortgage loans in the United States. The life insurance companies have found an important outlet for their funds in South Dakota; approximately five per cent of their total farm mortgage loans on December 31, 1931 had been made in this state.' Because of the nature of the institution of life insurance, its investments should be conservative. It is with this view in mind that the state insurance laws are designed to regulate the investments of the life insurance companies. Investments of the well-established life insurance companies have generally been made on a conservative basis. There are times, however, when an accumulation of distressed conditions which cannot be foreseen will change what was considered a most conservative investment into one of high risk. Such have been the conditions in agriculture the last few years. It is the object of this study to discover the effects of the adverse agricultural conditions of recent years on the farm mortgage holdings of life insurance companies in South Dakota. In a later bulletin from this department the experiences of other agencies supplying farm mortgage funds will be discussed and compared with the lending experiences of life insurance companies.

Pages

40

Format

application/pdf

Type

text

Language

en

Publisher

South Dakota State State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, Agricultural Experiment Station

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