farm income
When it comes to farming, a “medium” can sound large
A mid-size family farm in the United States averages 1,582 acres - 2.4 square miles - in size and rings up $645,000 in annual sales, says the Agriculture Department's "Farm Typology" report. There are 118,340 mid-size farms, predominantly grain and soybean operations, although more than 40 percent also raise cattle and 5 percent have hogs. Only 5.6 percent of the 2.11 million farms in the country meet USDA's criteria for a mid-size family farm, which is from $350,000 to $1 million in gross cash farm income (GCFI).
US project tries to raise corn yield and farm income in Africa
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), aided by a giant U.S. seed company, "are testing a new approach to improve the production of corn among the millions of poor, small-scale farmers who dominate African agriculture," says the...
Five top themes of 2014 and for the new year
The year-end holidays are a traditional time for summing up and for trying to forecast the future. Here is the Ag Insider list of five salient issues in food and agriculture policy likely to lead the headlines in the new year, as they did in the year now waning. The issues...
Crop growers face more financial stress in 2015
Economists at the annual Ag Bankers Conference said crop growers will face more stress in 2015, says Farm Futures. "Some farmers may need to restructure debt to keep cash flowing the next two years, says...
Capital purchases zoomed with farm income, now face a dive
Measured on a per-acre basis, capital purchases, such as machinery and buildings, by grain farmers have more than tripled, says economist Gary Schnitkey of U-Illinois, who warns farmers will have to tighten their belts.
Plunge in farm income is steeper than expected
U.S. net farm income will plummet by 21 percent this year, the government forecast, a much steeper drop than its August estimate of 14 percent points.
Machinery costs on the rise as commodity prices fall
During the agricultural boom that started in 2006, farm income zoomed and many producers upgraded their equipment. Data from two major farm states, Illinois and Kansas, shows the impact of the expenditures.
Farm income “has fallen short of previous years”
Crop farmers are seeing much lower incomes this year, down by an average 25 percent in the Plains, according to agricultural bankers in the Farm Belt.
China ponders how to remodel its farm sector
"From a bedrock of traditional culture, and an engine of the post-Mao economic boom in the 1980s, agriculture has become a burden for China," says the New York Times, "and few in the countryside see their future there."
Despite slowdown, US farm equity to rise in 2014
U.S. farm equity is forecast to rise by 2.3 percent this year as the sector continues to generate wealth despite lower farm income, a cooling off of land prices and higher borrowing costs, said the Agriculture Department.
Farm sector stronger than expected in a down year
Record livestock prices and bumper crops are blunting greatly a downturn in the farm economy, said the Agriculture Department in its semiannual Farm Sector Income forecast. USDA says net cash farm income, a measure of the ability to pay bills, will drop by 6 percent this year instead of the 22 percent plunge forecast in February.
Main Street begins to feel the pinch of lower farm income
Farmers and ranchers are tightening their purse strings and spending less in town, say farm bankers across the Farm Belt. With farm income down due to sharply lower commodity prices, cutbacks are expected to continue into the fall at a minimum.
Deere to scale back as farmers buy less equipment
The world's largest farm equipment manufacturer said sales were down by 5 percent worldwide - down 8 percent in the United States and Canada - in the third quarter - due to lower commodity prices...
More bushels in the bin, fewer bucks in the bank
Despite record-setting corn and soybean crops and an upturn in wheat production, the crops are worth 10 percent less than 2013's output due to sharply lower farm-gate prices. Corn, wheat and soybeans are the three most widely planted crops in the nation - covering 360,000 square miles this year - and will have a combined value of $107 billion at the farm gate, based on USDA estimates of season-average prices, compared to...
Farmland values step off price escalator after long ride up
U.S. farmland values will hold steady or decline somewhat in the near term due to lower grain prices and high production costs, lenders and financial experts told a House Agriculture subcommittee.
House hearing looks at rural credit as ag markets tighten
Private and public lenders are scheduled to testify on availability in rural America at a House Agriculture subcommittee hearing.
Making conservation pay in dollars to farmers
It's well-known that agricultural practices can affect soil fertility, water quality, wildlife populations and pest numbers for good or bad.
Rising debt is cloud on ag sector finances
Ag economist Jason Henderson of Purdue says "what has me a little nervous" is an upturn in borrowing as the farm sector heads into a period of lower commodity prices and farm income.
House defeats Trump-backed government funding bill
One day after President-elect Donald Trump shot down a stopgap government funding bill, the House defeated a Trump-backed bill written by Republicans to keep the government running until March 14. The GOP bill included $31 billion to buffer the impact in rural America of natural disasters and lower farm income.