agricultural economy

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.

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…

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…

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.

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…

A  news release on Tuesday from the American Bankers Association (ABA) stated that, "Eighty-two percent of agricultural lenders reported a decline in farm profitability in the last 12 months, according to a joint survey by the [ABA] and the Federal…

An article on the front page of Saturday's Des Moines Register explored issues associated with corn and soybean production, prices, and farm profitability in Iowa.  Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City released a paper last week which noted…

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve Board released its October 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.

Earlier this week, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas released its Agricultural Credit Survey for the third quarter of 2017. The Fed update indicated that, "Demand for agricultural loans overall decreased for the eighth consecutive quarter. Loan renewals and extensions…

Iowa State University (ISU) Extension Economist Alejandro Plastina penned a recent article titled, "Financial Stress in Iowa Farms: 2014-2016."  Today’s update recaps some of the key findings from the ISU article.

Reuters writer Rod Nickel reported yesterday that, "On Canada’s fertile Prairies, dominated by the yellows and golds of canola and wheat, summers are too short to grow corn on a major scale. But Monsanto Co is working to develop what…

Donnelle Eller reported on the front page of Friday's Des Moines Register that, "After three years of decline, Iowa farmland values bumped nearly 3 percent higher this year, but experts say it's unlikely a signal the ag downturn has turned…

Cole Epley 
and Barbara Soderlin reported on the front page of the Money section in Friday's Omaha World-Herald that, "Farmers heading into harvest season have reason to believe the nation’s struggling agriculture economy won’t get much worse. Still, there is…

Last month, the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri released its latest baseline update for U.S. agricultural markets.  Recall that in its March baseline report, FAPRI indicated that, "The latest analysis of national and global…

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve Board released its August 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.

Yesterday, the USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) released its August 2017 Farm Income Forecast.  This was the first revision of the initial net farm income forecast released by ERS in February.  Today's update provides a recap of highlights from the farm…

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 second quarter of this year.  Today’s update provides a brief overview of yesterday’s…

Last week, USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released three important updates that provide current insight into the state of the U.S. agricultural economy.  The releases focused on land values, cash rents, and production expenditures. Meanwhile, USDA's Economic Research Service…