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USDA 2019 farm income forecast up

The USDA’s first forecast of 2019 farm income shows a 10-percent increase to nearly 70 billion dollars.

USDA economist Warren Preston says increased crop and livestock receipts are partially offset by higher production expenses. And Preston says they’re also projecting an almost four-percent increase in farm debt this year.

“The sector’s risk of insolvency is at the highest level since 2002 but we’re still well below the levels that we saw in the 1980s. So, the likelihood of default across the sector does remain historically low.”

Preston says the farm income forecast assumes current trade situations stay as they are now. He says those numbers could improve if those disputes are resolved.