tion of land under special use, such as urban areas, roads, military land
and Federal and State recreation areas, where Florida with 16%, has twice
as much as Tennessee, the next closest state.
 So Florida has an important agricultural sector, with larger farms
and incomes than the average in the nation and in neighboring states.
Yet, the same proportion of land is farmed in Florida as in other South-
eastern states. So, even though there is a different farm structure, it
is not unreasonable to expect some similarity in institutional debt, part-
icularly as these six states comprise the Federal Reserve's sixth district,
and three of them make up the entire fifth district of the Farm Credit Ad-
ministration (Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana). There should also be
some additional common factors between Georgia and Florida, which make up
half of the Farm Credit Administration's third district.


 SECTION 2
 Agricultural Debt in Florida and Comparisons


 It is useful to show the sources of agricultural credit in Florida,
before making any comparisons. Accordingly Tables (1) and (2) present
the sources supplying real and non-real estate capital to Florida farmers
and indicate the trends.
 There has been a remarkable increase in Federal Land Bank lending in
Florida. Between 1967 and 1979 total loans outstanding have increased
six-fold, and the Federal Land Bank's share has grown from 16% to 40%, while
other sources have generally declined. Commercial banks now supply only
9% of the real estate debt, or less than half that of the life insurance
companies, who in turn have a greater share in agricultural real estate
in Florida than in any other state.
 Table (2) provides figures illustrating the non-real estate trends.