Ag Economy Barometer: Farmer Sentiment Weakens

Dan Economy

For the third month in a row, agricultural producer sentiment weakened. The October Ag Economy Barometer declined to 121, three points lower than a month earlier. The modest decline occurred as a result of producers weaker perceptions regarding both current and future conditions in the production agriculture sector. Recent weakness in farmer sentiment appears to be driven by a wide …

NMPF’s Bjerga Discusses Opportunity in Reconciliation

Dan Dairy, Economy, Legislative

We are hearing a lot about the budget reconciliation legislation, otherwise known as the Build Back Better Act, being discussed in Congress. During a recent interview on RFD-TV, National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) Senior Vice President of Communications, Alan Bjerga, talked about some of the opportunities for dairy that’s currently in that legislation. The legislation also includes $27 billion in a once-in-a-generation …

USDA Provides $1.8 Billion to Offset Market Fluctuations

Dan Economy, USDA-FSA

Farmers Can Now Make Elections, Enroll in Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage Programs (WASHINGTON, Nov. 1, 2021) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is in the process of issuing $1.8 billion in payments to agricultural producers who enrolled in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2020 crop year.  These payments provide critical support …

Crops Sector Received 65% of PPP Loans for Agriculture in 2020

Dan Economy, USDA-ERS

Information updated by USDA’s Economic Research Service Wednesday shows 65 percent of Paycheck Protection Program 2020 agriculture funds went crop farms, with the rest for livestock. Last year, farmers and ranchers could use forgivable loans from the program to help keep employees on payroll and offset some of their operating costs. The maximum PPP loan amount was 2.5 times the …

Citrus Industry Seeks to Maintain Funding, Eyes Research

Dan Citrus, Economy, Research

Despite a predicted drop in citrus production across Florida, orange juice sales are tracking up. And according to the News Service of Florida, the industry wants lawmakers to maintain current amounts of state marketing and research funding next fiscal year. Meanwhile, efforts to combat citrus greening disease could soon lead to a new University of Florida-backed variety of citrus on …

Larger Livestock Loans Boost Farm Lending

Dan Cattle, Economy, Livestock

Demand for livestock loans grew in the third quarter, boosting agricultural lending activity. However, demand for operating loans was more subdued, and total non-real estate lending remained near its average of the past decade. The Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank Wednesday said the average size of loans for some livestock categories reached an all-time high and contributed to the increased …

Legislation Introduced to Provide Pricing Leverage for Cattle Producers

Dan Cattle, Economy, Marketing

Wednesday, Ranking Member of the Livestock & Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee Dusty Johnson (R-S.D) and Representative Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28) introduced the bipartisan Cattle Contract Library Act of 2021 (H.R. 5609), which would create a library for cattle contracts within the USDA’s Agriculture Marketing Service. Currently, USDA maintains a pork contract library, and following significant volatility in the cattle market and the release of the …

Commissioner Nikki Fried on TS Elsa Secretarial Disaster Designation for Three Florida Counties

Dan Economy, Field Crops, Florida

(Tallahassee, FL/October 20, 2021) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has informed Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) that it has granted a Secretarial disaster designation in several counties in Georgia and Florida due to losses caused by Tropical Storm Elsa, excessive wind, and excessive rainfall that occurred on July 7, 2021. With this designation, impacted producers …