Posted on 02/11/2015 5:33:15 AM PST by bestintxas
Net income for farmers is expected to fall by nearly 32 percent this year as corn and soybean prices remain low and expenses creep higher, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report.
While some farmers renting land at higher prices will find it an unprofitable year, the statistics are not as dire as they may sound for farmers in general, since just two years ago income was at a record high, farm economists said.
"It's neither happy times nor is the sky falling in terms of agriculture incomes," said Scott Irwin, an agricultural economist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The Agriculture Department estimates would mean farmers in the United States would see income fall for a second year in a row. It was down 16 percent from 2013 to 2014. The report forecasts net income at $73.6 billion in 2015, down from $108 billion in 2014. It was at a record $129 billion in 2013.
Crop receipts are expected to fall nearly 8 percent, driven by a dramatic fall in grain prices. Corn, for example, was at a record high, exceeding $8 a bushel in the summer of 2012, but is trading under $4 now. Soybeans had a similar decline. Livestock prices generally have been high, delivering exceptional profits — particularly for hog farmers — but a pig virus cut herds last year and cattle herds haven't yet fully recovered from drought years when numbers declined.
Even as income falls, expenses for things like fertilizer and seed are rising by one-half of a percent, the USDA said.
"There will be some farmers that do face financial stress, that's for sure, but there's also going to be a tremendous amount of farm payments going out," said Bruce Babcock, professor of economics at Iowa State University.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
When one is weaned from govt handouts, everyone wins save those on the tit.
Aren’t they saving money on fuel?
yes, bigtime.
Their problem is the govt handouts are drying up and less demand particularly for the corn crop.
Look back at the events that caused the Great Depression. It will make you very afraid.
Exactly my thought. All kinds of shipping and field costs should be down significantly for farmers.
Lower corn prices should be a boon to all types of livestock farmers.
Maybe farmers like me should just take a year off.I bet that would be great for the economy too.
Also, lower corn prices should be somewhat of a temporary thing if we can back ourselves out of the ethanol idiocy and stop overproducing corn to meet ethanol demand.
We might use a total of 2 gallons of fuel per acre by using no-till farming.So a savings of 2 bucks an acre is a big help.Now if fertilizer would only come down in price.
I wish that people posting here would come to a real understanding about corn and ethanol production.
Like the fact that the grain is still used as animal feed AFTER the distilling process.
Learn the facts.
I’m afraid its not just going to be farmers with income drops like that. Mine went down more than that between 2010 - present; esspecially the last 2 years. I can honestly say its attributed to the economy that he destroyed. Youe didn’t have bankers committing suicide by the dozens or businesses closing the way they are now pre-Obama.
Yes, but the price of corn and soybeans has been cut in half.
I am seriously considering taking a pass this year.Bale the hay that I need for my horses and let the ground rest for a year.
You may as well instead of just barely breaking even or even losing on every acre you plant.
http://www.agrimarketing.com/s/91232
...many farms are not profitable businesses even in the best farm income years; as a result, median income from farming is negative when calculated for all farm households.
Sector-wide farm income is expected to dip in 2014, and median farm household income from farming is expected to decline to -$1,626...
I take it you’re attached to the ethanol gravy train. Distiller grains from ethanol produce a minority of the feed product that corn provides on its own. Not really relevant to what I posted anyway.
But ethanol subsidies have been a disaster, and without them less corn will be grown, because it won’t be diverted to fuel.
Distorted data based on tax accounting, but even if it were so, how fantastic if enough people so enjoyed feeding their fellow man at a loss that their voluntary farming so significantly subsidized food costs!
You could come out ahead by just renting the land out.
Thee point is that most “farmers” are actually buying a lifestyle, so income variations from year to year don’t really matter.
There are a lot of different ways to define “farmer”. I believe one method is to indicate those with gross sales of over $200,000, as it would take at least that much in sales to generate profits that might replace a full-time job.
Right.
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