Loan delinquencies and other signs of repayment problems are expected to increase in 2017 among farmers and ranchers. Politico’s Morning Agriculture Report says in spite of that, the farm credit system should be able to weather the downturn in the Ag economy.
Farm Sector Working Capital to Decrease in 2017
Farm financial liquidity describes how easily members of the farm sector can convert assets to cash in order to meet short term debt obligations. One measure of liquidity is working capital, which is the difference between current assets like cash and inventory, and short term debt. Higher working capital means much better financial health for the farm sector. The USDA …
AFBF President Addresses USDA Ag Outlook Forum
“This could be the best of times…and possibly the worst of times in agriculture,” according to American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall, who spoke last week at the Department of Agriculture’s Ag Outlook Forum.
Rural Mainstreet Index Improving
Rural Mainstreet Climbs to Highest Level Since September 2015: But Only 15 Percent Report Expanding Economy February Survey Results at a Glance: * The overall index, while remaining below growth neutral, rose to its highest level since September 2015. * More than one-third of bank CEOs reported their local economy remains in an economic downturn. Only 14.9 percent of bankers indicated their local …
House Agriculture Committee Prepares for Farm Bill by Exploring Economic Outlook in Rural America
The House Agriculture Committee held a hearing to review the economic challenges facing rural America. Members heard from several witnesses who highlighted these factors, including low farm commodity prices, declining net farm income, tightening credit conditions, a strong dollar, and unfair trade practices by foreign competitors.
Net Farm Income Expected to Dip further in 2017
Highlights From the February 2017 Farm Income Forecast Farm sector profitability measures are mixed for 2017. A narrow cash-based measure, net cash farm income, is forecast to rise by $1.6 billion to $93.5 billion from the 2016 value, an increase of 1.8 percent. In contrast, net farm income is forecast to decline by 8.7 percent to $62.3 billion, the fourth …
Ag Producers’ Confidence Surges During January
The Ag Economy Barometer continues to show increased producer confidence following the November election. Organized by Purdue University and the CME Group, the monthly survey of 400 agricultural producers from across the U.S. reached 153 in January, 21 points higher than December’s survey and 61 points higher than in October. The increase marks the most positive recorded sentiment by producers …
Florida Agricultural Policy Outlook Conference is Next Week
Those in agriculture won’t want to miss the Florida Agricultural Policy Outlook Conference coming up next week. University of Florida/IFAS economists and other experts will discuss economic insights helpful for making informed business and policy decisions. The second annual event, organized by the UF/IFAS food and resource economics department, will be held February 9th from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. …
Tough Year
Everett Griner talks about a tough year ahead for farmers in today’s Agri View.
Net Farm Cash Income Down in 2016
Tyron Spearman takes a look at the highlights from the USDA Net Farm Income report which has recently been released.