How does USDA get its income projections? That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
USDA projects farm income categories down for 2024. USDA research economist Carrie Litkowski explained some of the indicators during a session at the USDA Ag Outlook Forum.
“There are multiple factors that are contributing to this expectation for lower income in 2024. First, cash receipts for both crop and animal products are forecast to decline about twenty-one billion in 2024. Also, direct government payments are forecast to decrease by almost two-billion dollars and total production expenses are forecast to increase sixteen-point-seven billion dollars or almost four percent,” she said. “Through a simulation, we can look at how the sector forecasts might affect farm businesses. On average, we are forecasting average net cash farm income for farm businesses to decrease twenty-seven percent following the sector forecast for lower cash income to about seventy-two-thousand dollars in 2024. Lastly, with these farm income estimates and forecasts, we also put out forecast household income. We are forecasting that median total farm household income will remain relatively stable in 2024 at just under one-hundred-thousand.”
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Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.