The Preliminary Index of Prices Received by Farmers in December increased 1 percent from November. The National Ag Statistics Service reports farmers received higher prices for corn, wheat, cattle and eggs. They got less for milk, broilers, lettuce and oranges.
The December Crop Index increased 2.5 percent from November. Corn averaged $3.77 per bushel up 19 cents from the previous month. Soybeans were unchanged at $10.20 per bushel. All wheat increased 48 cents to average $6.53 per bushel while all-hay was down $5 at $159 per ton.
The Livestock Index declined 3.7 percent for the month. Beef cattle increased a dollar to average $168 per hundredweight, hogs slipped 20 cents to average $66.50 per hundredweight. Broilers were down a nickel at 59 cents per pound, turkeys lost 8.7 cents to average 73.4 cents per pound and eggs increased 29 cents to average $1.66 per dozen.
The December all-milk price declined $2.70 to average $20.30 per hundredweight. The price is $1.70 below December of last year. The highest preliminary all milk price is in Florida, $25.20 while the lowest is California at $17.90. Wisconsin is at $20.80 down $3.60 from November. The milk-to-feed ratio for December is 2.38 compared to 2.74 in November and 2.3 a year ago.
The Index of Prices Paid by Farmers in December is unchanged from November. Higher prices for concentrates, feed grains, supplements and feeder pigs were offset by lower prices for feeder cattle, gasoline, diesel and LP gas. Fuels are down 11 percent from November and 18 percent below December of 2013 with LP down 46 percent from a year ago.
Compared to a year ago: prices received by farmers are up 2 percent while the prices paid by farmers are 4.7 percent higher than in December of 2013.
Source:cornell.edu