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Farm income projected to fall

The USDA says farm income will fall again this year.  The agency’s chief economist Rob Johansson says the projection is for net farm income to be $59-and-a-half billion, which is down 6.7 percent, the lowest in 12 years.

Crop cash receipts are down for everything except soybeans.  Receipts for meat animals are projected to up a bit, but milk, poultry and eggs are projected to be lower.  Adding to that is a one percent jump in production costs.

“Labor costs are expected to increase,” said Johansson, in an interview provided by the USDA.  “We know that interest rates are going up, so that’s another area where we see increasing costs of production.”

Fuel and fertilizer prices are also expected to increase, while government direct safety net payments are projected to drop by almost 19 percent.