Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.
Monday, December 02, 2019
Farm Income is Highest in Six Years, Due to Trump’s Trade-War Bailout
Fueled by $14.5 billion in Trump tariff payments, U.S. net farm income
will climb to its highest total since the commodity boom crested in 2013
and a dramatic rebound from the plunge that accompanied its collapse,
the USDA estimated. When crop insurance indemnities are added to “direct
farm program payments,” a category that includes trade war aid, land
stewardship payments, and traditional crop supports, the government will
provide an unusually high 31% of farm income this year. “There are financial issues out there and stress,” said USDA Chief
Economist Robert Johansson, despite the huge federal transfer of cash to
farmers and ranchers. Farm bankruptcy rates, while low, are rising and
so are indicators such as the debt-to-asset ratio, a measure of
solvency, Johansson told USDA’s radio news service over the weekend. The USDA pegged net farm income, a measure of wealth, at $92.5 billion,
up 10% from 2018, due to mammoth federal payments and
higher-than-expected commodity prices. Income peaked at a record $123.7
billion in 2013, plunged to a low of $62.2 billion in 2016, and climbed
ever since. Stable expenses allowed producers to hold on to revenue
rather than pay higher bills...MORE
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment