farm economy
Farmers cut costs, borrow less, in response to low profit margins
Pinched by continued declines in farm income, producers are tightening their belts this year rather than borrowing money from the bank, says a quarterly report by the Federal Reserve. The volume of new non-real-estate loans issued by ag bankers from January-March was down 16 percent compared to the same period in 2016, and it followed a significant decline in the closing months of 2016.
Senate panel ‘will move as quickly as possible’ on Perdue nomination
American agriculture is "going through a rough patch right now," so the Senate Agriculture Committee "will move as quickly as possible in a bipartisan fashion ... to get the governor down to the department," chairman Pat Roberts said, referring to the nominee for agriculture secretary, former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue. The committee has scheduled a confirmation hearing for Thursday at 10 a.m. ET.
U.S. farm income to be half of 2013 peak, farm debt to rise by 5 percent
The government forecast U.S. net farm income at $62.3 billion this year, the lowest since 2009 and only half of the record income of 2013 at the crest of the agricultural boom. In inflation-adjusted terms, 2017 net farm income would be the lowest since 2002. Farm debt was forecast to increase by $19.4 billion this year, part of a 25 percent increase since commodity prices collapsed four years ago.
Survey of farmer sentiment sets record for second month
A post-election surge in producer optimism pushed the Ag Economy Barometer to a record high for the second consecutive month, says Purdue University, which conducts a survey of farmers and produces the monthly report.
GOP senators try to kill the estate tax
More than two dozen Republican senators, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, signed on as sponsors of a bill by South Dakota Sen. John Thune to repeal the estate tax. Farm groups are long-time opponents of the tax, saying it disrupts transfer of property from one generation to the next.
With election behind them, farmers expect stronger economy ahead
The November general election stands as a dividing point between pessimism and optimism among farmers about the future of the agricultural economy, says a Purdue poll. The Ag Economy Barometer, produced monthly by Purdue, is now at its highest reading ever, 132, in a dramatic surge since October, when it was at its second-lowest mark, 92, since the survey began in October 2015.
Forceful Trump to press regulatory relief first, say farm policy hands
The Trump administration will focus on regulatory relief in its early days in office, said two farm-policy hands, who pointed to EPA's Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule as a prime example of federal over-reach. Chuck Conner, of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, said President-elect Trump will be forceful in rolling back regulations, and Dale Moore, of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said the regulatory burden saps farmers' bottom lines.
U.S farm income drops 46 percent in three years
The collapse in crop and livestock prices since 2013 will result in the lowest net farm income since 2009, says USDA. In the final estimate of the year, the Economic Research Service pegged farm income at $66.9 billion, down $4.5 billion from its August estimate and barely more than half of the record income that producers enjoyed just three years ago.
Anxiety among farm groups as battle lines harden on immigration reform
When Donald Trump announced his campaign for president, he promised to deport all undocumented workers if elected. “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending the best ...[T]hey’re sending people that have lots of problems,” Trump told reporters at Trump Tower in New York City. U.S. farmers might have noted that Mexico also sends the majority of the workforce on American farms, a workforce that dropped more than 20 percent between 2002 and 2014.
After voting heavily for Trump, rural America wants to change his mind
President-elect Donald Trump carried almost all of the farm states, from the Carolinas across the Midwest into the Plains, rolling up a 2-to-1 margin against Democrat Hillary Clinton with promises of lower taxes and less regulation. Farm groups, with a politically conservative membership, said they hoped to educate him on the importance of exports for farm prosperity.
Four-fifths of producers expect bad financial times in year ahead
The Ag Economy Barometer fell to its lowest reading since March as optimism about the future declined, said Purdue University. Some 79 percent of farmers taking part in the monthly gauge of the farm sector said they expect bad times financially in the 12 months ahead – a jump of 11 percentage points in one month.
Corn prices stall below $4 with few paths for an increase
For the past 27 months, farmers have been paid less than $4 a bushel for their corn crops, "and prices below $4 are expected to persist well into 2017," says economist Darrel Good of the University of Illinois. There are only two paths that could lead to higher prices, he says at farmdoc Daily: a drop-off in South America or a much smaller U.S. crop in the new year.
Weakening farm economy jeopardizes future of some farmers
The third year of weakening U.S. farm income will create "more questions about the ability of some producers to continue to operate after experiencing losses for multiple consecutive years," says the Kansas Federal Reserve Bank. The sour economy is causing ripple effects in farm towns in the Plains, ag bankers told the regional Fed.
One-fifth of Republican farmers say they aren’t voting for Trump
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is not turning out the GOP base in farm country despite holding a 3-to-1 lead over Democratic Hillary Clinton in the countryside, says a poll by Aimpoint Research. Trump's level of support, 55 percent, is 12 points lower than the large majority of farmers and ranchers who identify themselves as Republican.
Vilsack: Financial stress on the rise as farm income falls
Despite the strong foundation of the farm sector, "it is clear financial stress is increasing and some producers are more exposed to financial risk," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in Senate testimony that balanced concern with falling farm income with a valedictory list of the administration's eight-year record in agriculture.
As farm income slumps, debate over the future
If there was any doubt, the agricultural boom ended in red ink for relatively large-scale Illinois farmers last year — an average loss of $2,971 per farm just one year after they notched a net farm income of $107,290, say three University of Illinois economists. Low crop prices were the culprit in Illinois, and across the nation, with comparatively low farm income expected for several years to come.
A softer landing for producers after ag boom collapses
U.S. farm income will fall for the third year in a row, said the Agriculture Department, but the impact is not expected to be as severe as feared at the start of the year. In a tri-annual forecast, the USDA estimated net farm income — the net value of production — at $71.5 billion, much better than the $54.8 billion that it estimated in February although far below the record $123.8 billion of 2013 as the seven-year agricultural boom collapsed under the weight of large crops worldwide.
‘Ignore the subsidy lobby,’ says EWG in review of farm economy
"There's a lot of doom and gloom in the air about the state of the farm economy," says a report by the Environmental Working Group, and much of it is a campaign for larger crop subsidies. "The farm subsidy lobby has been working overtime to sue what it calls a 'farm crisis' to deflect well-deserved criticism of the fatally flawed federal subsidy program that they're desperate to protect."