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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
An update on Friday from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations indicated that, "After steadily declining for over a decade, global hunger is on the rise…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
In an update last week at The Wall Street Journal Online ("Disaster Looms on America's Waterways"), Shane Shifflett reported that, "For American producers who rely on the nation’s waterways to export…
Last week, Billings Gazette writer Tom Lutey reported that, "The life had been fading from Grant Zerbe's stunted chickpeas for the better part of a month, and now drought’s hot…