rural economy
First rise in farmland values in Midwest in three years
Agricultural bankers reported a 1 percent rise in “good” farmland values in 2017 in a survey by the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank, which said the productivity of midwestern farmland had helped stabilize prices. It was the first increase in values since 2014.
Big farms get bigger as U.S. farm numbers get smaller
U.S. farm numbers continue to drift lower, dropping to 2.048 million according to a USDA survey conducted last June, only a shadow of their peak during the Depression. At the same time that the total falls, the portion of land operated by the biggest farms, the powerhouses with more than $1 million a year in sales, continues to grow, now covering a quarter of all farmland.
Trump proposes 33-percent cut in crop insurance
Five weeks after he told the largest U.S. farm group that he supports "a [farm] bill that includes crop insurance," President Trump asked Congress to slash the taxpayer-subsidized program by a third. The $26-billion cut over a decade was part of a fiscal 2019 budget package that called for the eradication of USDA's first green-payment program and for denial of crop subsidies and land stewardship payments to people with more than $500,000 in adjusted gross income.
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.
Trump taps Missouri co-op official to run USDA rural utilities agency
The president of a rural electric cooperative in central Missouri is President Trump’s choice to head the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service. The agency oversees programs that range from water and sewer facilities to electrical lines and telecommunications.
Interest rates surge at same time farmers are borrowing more money
Farm income is stagnant at the same time that farmers and ranchers across the country are borrowing larger amounts of money and paying sharply higher interest rates on the loans, said the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank. "Large loans drove the increase in farm lending, which may heighten concerns about cash flow in 2018."
Trump wants $1.5 trillion for infrastructure; one-fourth for rural projects
After declaring “America is a nation of builders,” President Trump asked Congress to write a bill that would fund $1.5 trillion in “gleaming new roads, bridges, highways, railways, and waterways across our land” — much of it financed by state, local, and private-sector money. A quarter of the federal funds would be earmarked for rural projects.
Consolidation may be factor in low rural wages
As farms got bigger over the years, so did the equipment that farms use to cover the land. Farm equipment dealerships also got bigger, buying or pushing out competitors, and that may explain the problem of stagnant wages in rural areas: When there are fewer employers, wages show less growth, reports the New York Times.
Tax boon for co-op customers must change, says Grassley
The first major agricultural flaw found in the new tax law has “got to be changed,” said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley. Grain companies are very concerned that Section 199A of the new law “would put them out of business if we don’t do something,” he said.
Universal rural broadband is a daunting challenge
The Trump administration’s rural prosperity report visualizes broadband as a lever for economic growth, but experts tell Harvest Public Media that “the devil is in the details — or lack thereof.”
FCC chair proposes $500 million for rural broadband
Declaring that closing the digital divide is the FCC’s top priority, chairman Ajit Pai proposed an agency order to put $500 million in funding toward high-speed internet in rural America, said ZDNet.
‘Trump bump’ melts as farmer optimism wanes
Farmers are increasingly pessimistic about financial conditions in coming months, with Purdue’s Ag Economy Barometer dropping by nearly 18 percent since last January.
Outlook for U.S. farm income: Stable but ‘at much lower levels’
After a three-year plunge, U.S. farm income is stabilizing “at much lower levels than in previous years,” said the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, warning that “growing inventories and trade uncertainty remain the key risks to the outlook.”
Grain companies say tax law gives edge to cooperatives
Privately owned grain companies, from the giants of the grain trade to local merchandisers, “fear their grain supply will dry up” because of a provision in the newly enacted tax law, said Reuters.
Big dairy ‘co-op’ illustrates what’s wrong with modern agricultural co-ops
Dairy Farmers of America, the 20-year-old product of the largest merger in dairy cooperative history, has become a vertically integrated “corporation” that enjoys the legal benefits of a cooperative while increasingly serving its own bottom line rather than its member farmers, says Washington Monthly.
Rural task force report highlights Internet, GMOs, and a better H-2A visa
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue released a task force report, commissioned by President Trump on the day that Perdue took office, that makes 100 recommendations to improve rural prosperity, including universal access to high-speed internet, a smoother-functioning H-2A guestworker program and a federal initiative "to increase acceptance of biotech products and open and maintain markets for U.S. farmers abroad."
Rural internet to be high priority for Trump administration
President Trump will express support during a speech to the largest U.S. farm group today for a dramatic expansion of high-speed internet service in rural America. The strategy will be a springboard for economic growth for a segment of the population dogged by lower wages and higher poverty rates than the rest of the nation, said a White House adviser. The president also is expected to call for greater use of federal forests and fewer hurdles to agricultural biotechnology, two areas that may be lightning rods for controversy.
Ag trade is vital, says Farm Bureau leader a day before Trump speech
Farmers are among President Trump's staunchest supporters, and they have a response to his threats to scrap NAFTA and rewrite other trade agreements: "Without those global markets, our already-depressed farm economy would go down even more," said Zippy Duvall, leader of the largest U.S. farm group. "Trade should not be a dirty word," Duvall told the estimated 7,000 attendees at American Farm Bureau Federation convention, where Trump is scheduled to speak this afternoon.