Farm Policy Facts recently published an op-ed article entitled, What Recent Economic Reports Are Telling Us About Farming. The opinion piece reads as follows:
"As lawmakers are putting pen to paper on the new Farm Bill, some recent reports are providing a snapshot of the country’s beleaguered farm economy.
"The U.S. Department of Agriculture, last week, released projections that farm incomes will continue to fall in 2018 and will hit their lowest point in the past dozen years.
"The estimated 6.7 percent decline in farm profits from last year is largely attributed to increase costs for oil, labor, and other farm inputs.
“'Farmers and ranchers continue to operate on very thin margins,' Nebraska Farm Bureau economist told the Omaha World Herald of the report.
"And those thin margins extend well beyond just Nebraska.
"A new economic report from the Federal Reserve tells of low prices nationwide, hurricanes, drought in the South and extreme cold in the Midwest – plus, an uptick in farmers seeking loan extensions because of an inability to pay.
"Nathan Kauffman, an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, spoke last week to the crop insurance industry’s annual meeting.
“'The U.S. farm economy remains in a prolonged downturn,' he said, 'and commodity prices are likely to remain low in the near-term.'
"Kauffman said the stress has made farm liquidity 'a growing concern.'
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