After increasing 5% in 1998, agricultural credit declined slightly to $172.8 billion in 1999. This marks the first decline in credit, after 6 years of expansion. Agricultural loans held by commercial banks were slightly more than $69 billion, representing 40% of all farm business loans. While low commodity prices continued to depress farm income, performance of farm banks' was solid throughout 1999, reflecting the robust condition of farm finance in recent years. The performance of the 2,862 farm banks in 1999 is compared over time with the performance of non-farm banks, as well as with the performance of the overall banking industry.