Lower fertilizer costs will ease breakeven challenge for farmers, says Purdue
Commodity prices are forecast to fall in 2024 but so will crop production expenses, said agricultural economist Michael Langemeier of Purdue University. "Moderation in input prices, particularly fertilizer prices, is likely to result in lower breakeven prices in 2024."
Vilsack encourages congressional creativity to break farm bill impasse
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said he’s certain Congress will meet the Dec. 31 deadline to pass the farm bill or temporarily revive its predecessor, but it will require a dose of creativity to do it. Lawmakers have been deadlocked for weeks over farm group demands for a larger safety net when there are few ways to pay for it.
Farm bill’s default reference price hikes could add billions to subsidy costs
Almost every farm in the country will benefit from a more generous trigger for crop subsidy payments in the years ahead if Congress does nothing more than extend the current farm law, said associate professor Jonathan Coppess of the University of Illinois on Thursday.
Farm bill deliberations may stretch into 2024, analysts say
Congress could be even later than expected in completing the new farm bill, said two farm policy experts during a webinar on Tuesday, four days before the current law expires. House and Senate Agriculture Committee leaders are now aiming for passage of the 2023 farm bill by the end of December, but closed-door negotiations have moved slowly.
Higher reference prices would benefit mostly Southern growers, says EWG
U.S. farm groups are giving priority to winning higher reference prices, a key factor in calculating crop subsidies, in the farm bill due this year in Congress. But the benefits would flow to a relative handful of large cotton, rice, and peanut growers, said an environmental group on Tuesday.