About the Course
Introduction
This CLE webinar will help prepare bankruptcy attorneys for the continuing wave of farm bankruptcies. The panel will review the unique features of agriculture finance, options for farms under Chapter 11 (including Subchapter V) and Chapter 12, and options for lenders.
Description
Farm and agricultural bankruptcies in 2025 were up 46% over the prior year, and have not shown signs of slowing. According to agriculture experts in a Feb. 3, 2026, letter to Congress, barely half of all farms will be profitable in 2026, the U.S. is running a historic agriculture trade deficit, and enhanced immigration enforcement and related policies are causing a shortage of reliable labor, in turn preventing farmers from fulfilling their contractual obligations.
Restructuring and bankruptcy practitioners would do well to understand farm financing, which is materially different from typical secured lending. Disputes among multiple lienholders and claimants over multiple crop years are not uncommon. Counsel should be prepared for more farm and agribusiness cases under Chapter 12, Chapter 11, and Subchapter V, depending on eligibility, as well as appreciating the various risks and benefits. Agricultural lenders can expect to be the targets of clawback actions.
Listen as our expert panelists review important issues related to farm restructuring and bankruptcy so that practitioners will be equipped to handle the issues in these cases.
Presented By
Iowa native Mr. Peiffer grew up on a farm in Delaware County, then earned a degree in Dairy Science and Public Service and Administration from Iowa State University. He went on to complete his Juris Doctor degree, with distinction, at the University of Iowa. Following a clerkship with an Iowa bankruptcy judge in the 1980s, Mr. Peiffer began representing family farmers with financial struggles and helping federal legislators review and craft bankruptcy laws. He earned his certification in business bankruptcy from the American Board of Certification in 1994. Mr. Peiffer established Ag & Business Legal Strategies in 2016 and is the recipient of the Inaugural Certified Attorney of the Year Award by the American Board of Certification.
Mr. Peiffer earned his Juris Doctor degree from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, Mo., with a certification in Business & Corporate Law. Following a year of clerking for the chief judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, he joined Mr. Joseph Peiffer in practice at Ag & Business Legal Strategies in 2020. While in law school, Mr. Peiffer was the American College of Bankruptcy’s 2019 Distinguished Law Student for the 8th Circuit, served as a judicial extern for a bankruptcy judge, and worked with the school’s Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic. In 2024, he was selected to participate in the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges’ Appellate Advocacy Skills Workshop.
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This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
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Date + Time
- event
Tuesday, April 14, 2026
- schedule
1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT
I. How farm financing works
II. Factors contributing to agriculture sector distress
III. Chapter 12
A. Eligibility for Chapter 12
1. Regular annual income
2. "Family farmers" and "family fishermen"
B. Special tax provisions
C. Pre-confirmation issues, including adequate protection
D. Chapter 12 plan requirements and confirmation
1. Liquidation analysis
2. Interest on secured debt
D. Role of Chapter 12 trustee
F. Treatment of secured debt
1. Suggested plan language
2. Treatment of taxes on sale of farm assets
G. Chapter 12 discharge
H. Chapter 12 hardship discharge
IV. Comparing Chapter 11, Subchapter V, and Chapter 11
The panel will discuss these and other key issues:
- How is farming inherently different from other businesses?
- What are the pros and cons of Chapter 11, Subchapter V, and Chapter 12?
- What options exist for selling assets encumbered by unresolved liens?
