US farm income to plunge 27 percent in 2014 – USDA
Source: Des Moines Register
The federal government said Tuesday farm income will plunge nearly 30 percent in 2014 as farmers feel the impact of lower corn and soybean prices and reduced government payments.
The U.S. Agriculture Department said farm income is forecast to decline 26.6 percent to $95.8 billion this year, marking its lowest level since 2010. Net farm income last year was $131 billion, more than double the total from four years earlier, and the highest since 1973. Agriculture was one of the few sectors to make it through largely unscathed during the recent depression as demand for U.S. crops, both domestically and overseas, helped fill the coffers of rural America.
In its first estimate of farm income during 2014, the USDA said crop receipts are expected to decrease more than 12 percent in 2014, led by an expected $11-billion decline in corn receipts and a $6-billion decline in soybean receipts. The recent passage of the farm bill, which eliminated direct payments given to farmers regardless of need, would cut about $5 billion in income from the pockets of farmers and ranchers.
After farmers and ranchers were battered by drought during 2012, farm income plunged as crops withered away in bone-dry fields. But income last year rebounded sharply to a record as a strong harvest was more than enough to offset a drop in commodity prices, led by a 40 percent decline in corn.
Read more: http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2014/02/11/us-farm-income-to-plunge-27-percent-in-2014-usda/article
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