Agriculture loans at U.S. banks and thrifts continued to grow in the fourth quarter, reaching $181.85 billion, the highest level since detailed reporting began. Farm loans grew by 5.4% year over year to $101.00 billion, while agricultural production loans grew 1.2% to $80.85 billion.
Delinquencies ticked higher year over year. Approximately 1.9% of farm loans were delinquent at the end of 2017, a 10-basis-point increase. Similarly, 1.3% of agricultural production loans were delinquent or in nonaccrual status, also a 10-basis-point rise.
Total agricultural loans at Reno, Nev.-based John Deere Capital Corp., the country's largest ag lender among banks and thrifts, fell 0.9% year over year to $14.64 billion.
Total ag loans grew at only 10 of the top 20 agriculture lenders last year. At JPMorgan Chase & Co., the largest U.S. bank, they grew by 20.1% to $896.0 million as of year-end, but still only accounted for 0.1% of the company's total loans.

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