USDA: 2010 will see farm income rise

The Economic Research Service (ERS) of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is projecting that net farm income for 2010 will increase by 11.8 percent from 2009. While this is an upward growth of roughly $6.7 billion to $63 billion total, this is still below what farm income “earned during the previous 10 years,” reports Hoosier Ag Today online.

Both net cash income and net value added income are expected to increase. Net cash income should be $76.3 billion, a 7.8 percent increase, while net value added income is predicted to be $14.2 billion, which is $6.1 billion more than in 2009.

Meanwhile, Hoosier Ag Today is reporting that the ERS expects expenses to remain roughly equivalent to what they were last year. Sales from farm commodities are predicted to yield a 2 percent increase in cash receipts. Government payments are expected to stay the same, despite the budget put forth by the administration that would lower payments amount for certain programs and certain recipients.

According to ERS, livestock producers will see improvement in their economic situation, while crop producers could see a slight deterioration. Both soybeans and corn for grain will see declines in 2010, though they will most likely be slight. At the same time, “U.S. cotton demand [is] expected to be the lowest since 1988, and exports forecast at their lowest levels since 2001/2002, [but] cotton cash receipts are predicted to be a bright spot for U.S. farming in 2010,” reports Hoosier Ag Today.

To read the ERS 2010 Farm Income Forecast, click here.
To read the Hoosier Ag Today article, click here.

Posted: 02/17/10