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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Sunday, October 06, 2024
In this opinion piece, Dr. Rob Johansson, director of economics and policy analysis for the American Sugar Alliance, says farmers urgently need a new farm bill.
Some former top economists at USDA say it’s time for Congress to reimpose restrictions on the department’s use of the Commodity Credit Corporation, a revolving account that gives USDA broad leeway to support farm income.
Corn and sorghum growers are making the case that newly proposed restrictions on atrazine use will lead to their practicing less conservation tillage, resulting in reduced carbon sequestration at a time American agriculture is trying to make inroads in the fight against climate change.
Some big 2021 unknowns persist, including how COVID-19 will continue to disrupt markets and demand, whether government payments will continue to be robust and whether or not U.S. farmers can pivot to gathering more of their income from the marketplace.
Chapter 12 farm bankruptcies have hit highs not seen for a decade in some states, setting off alarms, with some wondering whether the farm economy could be headed for a crisis similar to the one that occurred in the 1980s. A deeper look at the numbers tells a different story.
USDA economists expect farmers to increase plantings of corn this spring while reducing their soybean production as the Trump administration's ongoing trade war with China remains unsettled. Record amounts of meat and milk production are projected.
A slow farm economy spells a downturn in demand for operating loans in much of America, despite fraying farm profits, as more farm debt moves to low-interest farmland mortgages.
Curious about how USDA came up with the payment rates for farmers hurt by retaliatory tariffs resulting from the administration’s trade policies? The department today released the methodology it used to set those levels for the trade mitigation package it announced Sept. 4.
When Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue proposed moving both the Economic Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) out of the D.C. metro area last month, quite a few folks within the economic and research communities voiced their opposition. But now, USDA's Chief Economist is offering more insight on the rationale behind the idea - at least for ERS.
