farm income
Conaway sees no sign of improvement in farm income slump
Leaders of the House Agriculture Committee said they aim to enact the new farm bill on time in 2018, "the first time in 16 years we will have done that," according to chairman Michael Conaway. The Texas Republican said the slump in farm income that began in 2013 "shows no signs of letting up."
Trump nixes TPP in favor of bilateral pacts; farm groups fear loss of exports
The White House declared "a new era of U.S. trade policy in which the Trump administration will pursue bilateral trade opportunities with allies" following its withdrawal from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact. Farm groups, whose members voted by a landslide for President Donald Trump, called for protection against loss of farm exports due to the change in focus.
Do farmers and bankers agree it’s time to cut back on borrowing?
New farm lending is down sharply by agricultural banks, plunging 40 percent during the closing three months of 2016 in the largest year-over-year decline for non-real-estate loans in nearly two decades, says a quarterly Federal Reserve report. "As the outlook for farm income generally has remained weak and farmland values have continued to decline, both lenders and borrowers may have been more apprehensive about adding new debt heading into 2017," said the report.
Exports will be increasingly important as bolster of farm income
Low commodity prices are depressing farm income, farmland values and repayment rates on farm loans, says the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, while larger-than-expected farm exports "seemed only to keep prices for some commodities from dropping further."
Iowa farmland values down for third year, more declines expected
Farmland values in Iowa, the No. 1 corn and hog state, are down by 17.5 percent since the collapse of commodity prices in 2013, says an annual survey by Iowa State University. ISU researchers joined other analysts in forecasting land values will continue to fall for a couple years more in the first significant adjustment in U.S. values since the agricultural recession of the mid-1980s.
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.
Glut of hogs brings lowest prices in a decade
Market prices for wheat, corn and hogs fell this fall to their lowest level in 10 years, said Purdue economist Chris Hurt, who predicts farmers will lose money on hogs for months to come. "The industry will need to consider a reduction in the breeding herd in the last half of 2017 in order to boost prices back closer to break-evens in 2018," says Hurt at farmdoc Daily.
Government crop-insurance program dings farmers for green practices
The policies of the "Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, a taxpayer-funded insurance program managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) and administered by a network of private companies,” punish farmers for environmentally-friendly practices, like planting cover crops, says Kristin Ohlson in FERN’s latest story, which was produced with Ensia.
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.
USDA sees big crops, low prices ahead; farm income stress likely
In its first look at the coming year for the farm sector, USDA projects two of the largest corn and soybean crops ever and continued low commodity prices that have pulled down farm income since 2013. In USDA's most recent forecast, net farm income is forecast at $71.5 billion this year, the lowest in nine years. Outside experts expect little improvement in 2017.
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.
U.S. farmland values to fall 20 percent in ‘moderate repricing’
MetLife Agricultural Finance says low corn and soybean prices are constraining farm income and will lead to the "first significant correction" in farmland values since the agricultural recession of the mid-1980s, reported Agrimoney. The lender forecast land prices to fall 20 percent by 2018 from their recent peak.
Midwest farmland values dip again in longest decline in three decades
Trump, a supporter of ethanol, less farm regulation
President-elect Donald Trump campaigned as a supporter of corn ethanol and said he would protect farmers from over-regulation. His senior advisor, Sam Clovis, said the New York businessman does not support the idea, popular among conservative House Republicans, of splitting food stamps from the rest of the farm bill.
EWG says U.S. farmers feed the (developed) world
A refrain among U.S. farmers and processors is that bountiful America helps feed a hungry world with a population forecast to increase by one-third, to 9.7 billion people, by mid-century. The actuality is that U.S. farm exports "go to countries that can afford to pay for them," and less than 1 percent go to the world's hungriest nations, says the Environmental Working Group.
Crop subsidies to provide 10 percent of U.S. net farm income
The USDA says it will disburse more than $7 billion in crop subsidies this fall, "which will account for over 10 percent of USDA's projected 2016 net farm income." The payments, which cover 2015 crops, are triggered under the 2014 farm law because of continued low commodity prices.
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.
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.