In the last 10 years, the American Bankers Association has kept a track record of how banks have profited in the farm sector, from boom and bust to recovery. In 1987, farmland values, real capital gains, and higher income leveled off and the total return on assets for the farm sector (according to a USDA estimate) was 5.5%. Total discounts and loans for farm banks totalled $900 billion, with the median at $20 million for all farm banks in 1987. Over 50% of agrilending went for annual operating expenses. Sixty percent of the farm banks were Farmers Home Administration approved lenders. Forty percent claimed that the paperwork for such a government loan "very burdensome", and 30% of the lenders utilized the government's interest rate buydown program