AN INVESTIGATION ON THE ROLE OF COMMERCIAL BANKS
 IN FINANCING FLORIDA AGRICULTURE

 P. J. van Blokland

 OBJECTIVES, JUSTIFICATION AND PROCEDURE

 The essential purpose of this paper is to discover the past, present
 and future role of Florida's commercial banks in the state's agriculture.
 There is no attempt to assess the adequacy of total agricultural lending
 in the state, but rather an investigation to see whether there are agri-
 cultural lending opportunities presently available to commercial banks.
 Until 1977, no economist had published material in the public domain
 concerning agricultural lending in Florida since 1942.1,2 The 1977 study
 provided an overall summary of agricultural credit trends in the state,
 and indicated that commercial banks contribute a smaller proportion of
 agricultural long and short term loans to farming than banks in other
 states. This paper pursues this suggestion through a 1978 postal survey
 of commercial banks, concentrating on non-real estate lending to agricul-
 ture.
 The paper first attempts to establish the importance of agriculture in
the state. It then examines the sources and trends of agricultural debt,
both within the state and compared with other states. The third part of
the paper details the survey, and analyzes the findings. Finally, all
three parts of the paper are brought together and conclusions are drawn.



 1Reitz, J.W., "Production Credit in Florida Citrus and Vegetable
Areas," Bull. 376, Ag. Expt. Stn., Univ. of FL., Gainesville, 1942.

 van Blokland, P.J., "An Introduction to Agricultural Credit in
Florida," Econ. Info. Rpt.77, Food and Resource Economics Dept., Ag.
Expt. Stns., I.F.A.S., Univ. of FL., Gainesville, August 1977.


 P. J. van Blokland is an assistant professor in Food and Resource Economics.