The Economic Research Service’s Food Dollar Series shows that the farmers’ share of the food dollar fell to 14.8 cents in 2016. That’s a 4.5 percent drop from the previous year and the lowest level since the series first launched in 1993. The farmers’ share of every $1 spent on domestically produced food represents the percentage of farm commodity sales …
USDA Rural Development Innovation Center Launches Interactive Webpage
To Share Best Practices for Rural Economic Development Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Anne Hazlett today unveiled a new interactive webpage to identify best practices for building rural prosperity. “Rural communities need forward-thinking strategies to build strong, resilient futures,” Hazlett said. “USDA’s Rural Development Innovation Center is focused on identifying unique opportunities, pioneering new, creative solutions to tough challenges, …
Sorghum Prices Falls Three Times Lower After China Tariff Announcement
Grain-handling company Scoular tells Bloomberg that sorghum bids in the Gulf of Mexico have all but disappeared in the wake of a Chinese decision to impose a 179 percent tariff on U.S. imports. Bob Ludington oversees the Omaha, Nebraska-based company’s grain and oilseed division, and says there’s been very little trade. While some U.S. grain elevators are still bidding for …
Administrative Changes Made to the Livestock Indemnity Program
Agricultural producers who have lost livestock to disease, resulting from a weather disaster, have an additional way to become eligible for a key U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) disaster assistance program. USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Bill Northey announced an administrative clarification nationwide to the Livestock Indemnity Program. In the event of disease, this change by USDA’s Farm …
Post-Irma Ag Relief Could Come Soon
Florida farmers awaiting federal disaster relief to help cover losses from Hurricane Irma last September may learn more details this week about the highly anticipated program. The $2.36 billion Wildfires and Hurricanes Indemnity Program is expected to offer a direct-payments model that would not hold growers to traditional payment limitations and would establish a state-managed program to handle tree losses. …
Rural Mainstreet Index Hurt by Trade Concerns
The Rural Mainstreet Index, which measures the economic outlook in rural America, was hit hard by rural bankers who expressed concerns about trade tensions and their effect on the farm economy. “An unresolved North American Free Trade Agreement and rising trade tensions with China are significant concerns,” says Ernie Goss, Creighton University economist and author of the Rural Mainstreet Index. …
Agri View: Current Land Prices
Everett Griner talks about current land prices in today’s Agri View. Everett looks at the different land values. He also explains some of the different things one might need to know if selling their land. Current Land Prices Farmers, both those with land to sell and those looking for land to buy, stay alert to land values across most of …
New USDA Website for Farmers
USDA has started a new website, farmers.gov. As Tryon Spearman reports, it is a point of access to agricultural programs and information, tools and personal advice for America’s farmers, ranchers and private foresters. New USDA Website for Farmers Sponsored ContentCIR Agriculture Harvester ProductsMarch 1, 2025Nuseed Carinata Covers New GroundOctober 1, 2024TriEst Ag Group: Partners in ProfitabilityApril 1, 2024
UF Leads Trend to Open Food Businesses with Workshops
Kimberly and George Vecchio wanted to reinvent their 20-acre farm near Vero Beach from mostly animals to produce so they could start a food business. Though George had been a gourmet chef for more than 20 years, they didn’t know how to start the new enterprise. “We didn’t know what questions to ask, or even where to start, even though …
Ending Payment Limits Could Cause Farm Consolidation
The farm bill draft released by the House Agriculture committee includes provisions that “would reverse decades of precedent,” and usher in an era of “unlimited farm subsidies for the nation’s largest mega-farms,” according to the National Sustainable Ag Coalition. The coalition calls the farm bill a “brazen attempt to undo years of statute for the benefit of the nation’s largest …