ND's legacy on '80s ag recovery: Farmer helped implement famous PIK program EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is the final installment in a four-part series: "Farm Crises -- The 1980s and now," comparing the economic and political conditions between what was known as the "farm credit crisis" of the 1980s, a decade when one in fo... Written By: Mikkel Pates / Agweek Staff Writer | 5:31 am, Oct. 7, 2019 EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is the final installment in a four-part series: "Farm Crises - The 1980s and now," comparing the economic and political conditions between what was known as the "farm credit crisis" of the 1980s, a decade when one in four farms failed because of economic losses and the conditions farmers are facing today.