At the end of 2017, Congress passed a temporary spending bill to prevent a government shutdown, but failed to complete work on an $81-billion disaster aid package. In addition to assistance for hurricanes and wildfires, the disaster package also included provisions dealing with the cotton and dairy programs. Today’s update provides a brief recap of some of the pre-holiday legislative activity, and highlights news articles discussing the legislative agenda in the new year.
Keith Good
Keith Good is the Farm Policy News editor for the farmdoc project. He has previously worked for the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, and compiled the daily FarmPolicy.com News Summary from 2003-2015. He is a graduate of Purdue University (M.S.- Agricultural Economics), and Southern Illinois University School of Law.
2018 Purdue University Outlook: Cash Rents, Farmland Values, Corn and Soybean Prices
The Agricultural Economics Department at Purdue University recently released its annual outlook report that contained 12 specific articles looking at various aspects of the U.S. agricultural economy. This post highlights key points from the Purdue report relating to cash rents, farmland values, and the price outlook for corn and soybeans.
Dairy, Livestock, and Trade Issues Highlighted in Recent USDA Reports
In the last few days, USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) and Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) have released three separate reports that contain current information relating to dairy sector analysis in China, U.S. livestock trade, and the the U.S.-Korea Trade Agreement (KORUS). This update briefly highlights core points from the three USDA reports.
Recent USDA-ERS Reports: Farm Structure (2017), and Evolving Distribution of Government Farm Payments (1991-2015)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS) has recently released two separate reports that provide interesting perspective on the structure of U.S. agriculture. The first provides a detailed overview of current statistics relating to U.S. farms, while the second highlights the evolving distribution of Federal farm payments (1991-2015). This update underscores key findings from the two recent ERS reports.
Iowa Farmland Values, and the Corn Belt Economy- “At a Crossroads”
The 2017 Iowa State University Land Value Survey was released on Tuesday, and showed that farmland values climbed 2% this year. The survey was conducted in November by the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development at Iowa State University and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Highlights of the survey are discussed in today’s update, along with recent news articles that explored the state of the Corn Belt agricultural economy in greater detail.
RFS: Rift Between “Corn State” Senators & “Oil-and-Gas State” Senators Persists
Last week, Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Tex.), along with several of his GOP colleagues, met with President Trump and other executive branch officials regarding the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Today’s update looks briefly at some of the recent political maneuvering among Senators that led to the RFS meeting with Sen. Cruz, and examines some of the news articles that highlighted the results of that session.
USDA Trade Data; NAFTA Perspectives from Farm State Senators
Today’s update provides a brief overview of updated USDA agricultural export data, and also looks at recent news items regarding the NAFTA renegotiation, with particular focus on perspective from some farm state Senators.
Farm Bill- “Sooner Rather Than Later”
Today’s update looks at recent news items discussing the Farm Bill, with specific focus on the potential timing of when Congress may take up the legislation. Lawmaker perspectives on provisions in the bill, including CRP issues, payment limits, and SNAP, are also discussed.
USDA Updates U.S. Ag Export Forecast Amid NAFTA Worries
In fiscal year 2017, U.S. agricultural exports totaled $140.5 billion, representing the third-highest level on record. In its quarterly export forecast in August, USDA indicated that fiscal year 2018 agricultural exports were projected at $139.0 billion. However, in its latest quarterly forecast, released late last month, USDA increased the fiscal year 2018 export projection by $1.0 billion. Today’s update examines the latest export forecast in more detail, and looks briefly at recent NAFTA news items pertaining to agriculture, including a report from the Nebraska Farm Bureau.
EPA: Recent Perspectives on RFS and Agriculture
Recall that in December of 2016, agricultural policy observers expressed some measure of unease with President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt. As The Wall Street Journal stated at the time, “After campaigning as a strong supporter of the use of ethanol and other biofuels in the nation’s gasoline supply, President-elect Donald Trump has chosen a forceful adversary of those federal requirements to implement them.” Nearly one year later, today’s update looks briefly at recent EPA action on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), and Administrator Pruitt’s visit to Iowa on Friday.
Federal Reserve: Observations on the Ag Economy- November ’17
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve Board released its November 2017 Beige Book update, a summary of commentary on current economic conditions by Federal Reserve District. The report included several observations pertaining to the U.S. agricultural economy.
2017 U.S. Farm Income Forecast- November Update
On Wednesday, the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) released its November 2017 Farm Income Forecast. This follows the August revision of the initial net farm income forecast released by ERS in February. The USDA will release one more revision of the 2017 net farm income forecast in February 2018, and the 2017 official estimates will be released in August 2018. Today’s update provides a recap of highlights from the farm income forecast.
A Focus on Corn Belt Ag Exports; NAFTA Update
A FarmPolicyNews update last week pointed to recent USDA information pertaining to the aggregate value of U.S. agricultural exports, and how these trade flows have changed over the past two decades. A recent article from Iowa State University looked more narrowly at recent trade trends pertaining to four specific agricultural sectors: beef, pork, corn, and soybeans. Today’s summary looks at these issues in more detail, along with a brief update on the NAFTA renegotiations.
Farm Bill Update: Perspective from Chairman Conaway and Chairman Roberts
Last week, Don Wick, a farm broadcaster from the Red River Farm Network (Grand Forks, N.D.), sat down with several lawmakers on Capitol Hill to discuss current Farm Bill issues. Notably, he spoke with both the Chairman of the House Ag Committee, Mike Conaway, as well as the Senate Ag Committee Chairman Pat Roberts. Today’s update includes key elements from these lawmaker conversations with the Red River Farm Network.
U.S. Ag Exports Remain Strong, But Global Share Declines as Destinations Have Changed (NAFTA, China)
U.S. agricultural exports in fiscal year 2017 increased over $10 billion to the third-highest level on record. Although the U.S. remains the second largest exporter of agricultural goods in the world, the share of U.S. agricultural exports has fallen from 23 percent of global value in 1995 to 12.5 percent in 2013. Nonetheless, U.S. agricultural exports to NAFTA countries and to China have increased since 1995, highlighting the importance of these regions to U.S. agricultural trade. Today’s update looks at these issues in more detail, along with a brief update on the NAFTA renegotiations.
Rural America: Perspective from USDA Report, and Federal Reserve Ag Credit Survey
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its annual Rural America at a Glance report, which summarizes the status of conditions and trends in rural areas. In addition, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis recently provided details of its third quarter Agricultural Credit Conditions Survey, which follows on the heels of recent third quarter agricultural reports from four other federal reserve districts. Together, the USDA report and Minneapolis Fed update, provide some interesting perspective on the state of non-metro America.
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis: Impacts of Summer Drought in the Plains
An update last week from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (“The worst they’ve ever seen,” by Ashwini Sankar) explored some of the lingering impacts of this summer’s severe drought in Montana and the Dakotas. The article noted that, “Recent heavy rains have brought relief to drought-stricken parts of the Ninth District, but months of dryness have exacted a heavy toll on crops, cattle herds and natural resources that is likely to weigh upon regional and local economies for months to come.”
USDA Trade Data; NAFTA Perspectives: Lawmakers, Ag Secretary, Farmers, and Mexico
Today’s update takes a closer look at recent USDA agricultural trade export data for fiscal year 2017, and then proceeds to examine recent news items that provide perspective on NAFTA trade issues from lawmakers, the Secretary of Agriculture, farmers, and Mexico.
Federal Reserve Ag Credit Surveys- 2017 Third Quarter Farm Economy Conditions in the Midwest
On Thursday, the Federal Reserve Banks of Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City each released updates regarding farm income, farmland values and agricultural credit conditions from the third quarter of this year.
Crop Choices, Farm Size: Changes in a Time of Low Corn and Soybean Prices
Recent news articles have documented that lower crop prices for commodities such as corn and soybeans have caused some producers to make changes to their traditional crop rotation, or to consider organic crop production methods. More broadly, a recent Wall Street Journal article noted that larger operations may still be able to reap profits in times of lower prices, fueling “a cycle in which size begets size” and where, “smaller-scale farmers struggle to expand their operations to become profitable.”