farm income
Farmer confidence surges, is highest since trade war began
With Trump tariff payments boosting Corn Belt farm revenue, farmer confidence shot to its highest level since last June, just before the trade war began against China, said the monthly Ag Economy Barometer published by Purdue University. Producers polled by Purdue said they expect ag exports to increase in the years ahead, an indirect sign they expect a beneficial resolution with China.
Trump trade war: ‘We’re going to hang with him,’ says Farm Bureau chief
The Sino-U.S. trade war, which as stymied U.S. farm exports, "is going to be a long one, and we keep delivering the message, 'We're with you, Mr. President,'" said the leader of the largest U.S. farm group on Sunday, adding a caveat. "The runaway of our patience is going to be determined by the financial situation of our farms. We went into the battle very weak." <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
A ‘growing economic storm in farm country,’ says new House Ag leader
There are many challenges facing rural America, said the new House Agriculture chairman, Collin Peterson. "There is a new farm bill to implement, a growing economic storm in farm country to address, and the ongoing harm of a trade war to alleviate, not to mention the range of unforeseen issues that will test the mettle of the people we’re here to serve," said Peterson in a statement over the weekend.
The farm-income bump is the bailout by Trump
U.S. farm income will be slightly higher than expected this year due chiefly to $4.7 billion in Trump tariff payments that will buffer the impact of trade war on commodity prices, says the USDA. With the bailout, farmers are forecast to collect $13.6 billion in direct farm payments, the largest amount in 12 years.
Income weak, producers borrow more from ag banks
Farmers typically try to stretch their dollars during the summer in the expectation that payday will arrive with the fall harvest. Not this year. Ag bankers report the largest summertime increase in non-real-estate loan volume in 16 years and it was driven primarily by demand for operating loans to pay day-to-day expenses, said a quarterly Federal Reserve report.
Big corn and soybean inventories add to sour farm economy
Already-bulging U.S. corn and soybean stockpiles are much larger than expected, said a USDA report, compounding the effects of a trade war and bumper crops on the farm economy. Farm income this year is forecast to be the lowest since 2006.
Duration of decline tops magnitude as farm income issue
When the commodity boom collapsed in 2014, U.S. farm income plunged along with it. While there are signs that income is stabilizing, economists Brent Gloy and Dave Widmar say their foremost concern "is more about the duration than the magnitude" with the fourth year of persistently low income going into the books.
Farm income stabilizes a bit, but financial stress edges upward
U.S. farm income is higher than expected this year and is regaining its footing after taking a tumble early this decade, said the Agriculture Department on Thursday. Nonetheless, net farm income will be the lowest since 2006, and the debt-to-asset ratio is rising for the sixth year in a row.
Anxiety mounts in farm country as details lag on Trump’s tariff-driven bailout
With commodity prices dropping and farm income projected to plummet, America’s farmers are growing increasingly anxious over the lack of specifics about how much money they’re going to get, and when they’re going to get it, from President Trump’s $12-billion bailout, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Most farmers expect lower income because of trade war
Seven of 10 farmers participating in a Purdue poll said they expect lower net income this year due to the tit-for-tat tariff war - a dour outlook that pulled down the monthly Ag Economy Barometer to its lowest reading since President Trump was elected in November 2016. The 26-point drop wiped out the remnants of "Trump bump" agricultural euphoria that propelled the barometer to a record high as Trump took office.
Farm earnings improve when land and assets taken into account
The financial health of farms is commonly demonstrated through its net income, or a farm household's financial losses or gains over the course of a year. According to those metrics, each year just over half of the U.S.'s 2 million farms report negative income. But a new report from the USDA's Economic Research Service uses a wider scope—including asset appreciation, unpaid labor, and tax benefits from farming—to assess the economic state of the country's farms in 2015.
House quietly aims for farm bill revival by June 22
Four days after defeating the farm bill, the House quietly delayed Speaker Paul Ryan's attempt to revive the bill until June 22, with GOP leaders hoping that hardline Republicans will vote for it the second time. Members of the House Freedom Caucus provided the decisive votes against the farm bill to underline their demand for a roll call on immigration controls. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Farmers increasingly look to supply management to steady U.S. agriculture
With a trade war looming, commodity prices swooning, and the dairy industry in full-blown crisis, a growing number of American farmers are embracing a controversial set of farm policies that would manage the country’s commodity production and stabilize crop prices. <strong>No paywall</strong>
Farm bill? Rural America doesn’t have the time.
The farm bill was the missing topic during a 45-minute session recently with farmers in southwestern Missouri, recalls Sen. Roy Blunt. "The farm bill never came up." Instead, growers talked about threats to farm exports, over-regulation and the need for rural broadband. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue says low commodity prices, the slump in farm income, attacks on corn ethanol and, most of all, anxiety about a possible trade war are the top concerns in farm country. <strong>No paywall</strong>
For farm sector, the new normal looks like the decade-ago normal
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue drew a familiar picture of a fragile farm economy recently for lawmakers pondering the 2018 farm bill: income at half its 2013 level, high production costs, debt on the rise, and low commodity prices in the year ahead.
Think tank forecasts sluggish farm income, continued stress
U.S. farm income has been in a rut since the collapse of the commodity boom in 2013, and it is likely to grow only slowly after a bump upward in 2019, estimated a University of Missouri think tank.
U.S. farm income ‘flattening’ at pre-boom level
During the seven-year commodity boom that ended in 2013, U.S. farm income soared to record highs. Then commodity prices collapsed, and farm income plunged 50 percent in three years. It now appears to be bottoming out at rates seen a decade ago.
Ag outlook: Low prices, trade challenges in 2018, says Perdue
Many farmers will "face tight bottom lines, even negative returns in some cases," during 2018, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue in describing the state of the rural economy as fragile. "We project continuing low commodity prices and trade challenges in the face of large global supplies and a relatively strong dollar in the coming year."