Headlines:
Over Half of U.S. Farms Lose Money, USDA Study Shows
U.S. farmers that are losing money are not alone, according to data collected by the USDA released Wednesday. The study analyzed data from 2015. Over half of U.S. farm households report losses from their farm businesses each year, the USDA’s Economic Research Service reported in a press release. There is a caveat. Because net farm income isn’t the total contributor to the financial well-being of farm families, tax-loss benefits and asset appreciation pushes the share of households with positive annual farm returns rises from 43 to 70 percent, according to the release. “Of the roughly 2 million U.S. farm households, slightly more than half report negative income from their farming operations each year. The proportion incurring farm losses is higher for house- holds operating smaller farms, where most or all of their income is typically derived from off-farm activities,” the ERS release stated. “However, many of these farm households do earn positive farm income in certain years; also, measures of farm income alone may understate the full economic value of owning the farm,” ERS release stated. ERS stated that ‘this report includes the returns that farmers—as small business owners and landholders—receive from tax law and land ownership.’.
Senate Names High-Power Team for Farm Bill Negotiations
When farm bill negotiators get down to business, the 47 House “conferees” will face an unusually big-caliber Senate team, with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as one of its members, a rare role for the leader. Senate Agriculture Committee leaders, in cheering the formal appointment of their nine negotiators, used “bipartisan” to describe their approach and take a swipe at the Republican-written House farm bill and its proposal to require more people to work 20 hours a week to qualify for food stamps. “This strong group of Senate conferees knows how to work together on a bipartisan basis to get the farm bill across the floor,” said Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts and Senator Debbie Stabenow, the senior Democrat on the committee. Roberts is chairman of the bicameral committee. Senators repeatedly mention that their bill passed, 86-11, the highest number of votes ever for a Senate farm bill. By contrast, only Republicans voted for the House bill and the House majority needed two attempts to pass their bill by a two-vote margin. The White House backed its SNAP work requirements as welfare reform. House Democrats said the GOP plan was unworkably complex and would drive people out of the food stamp program.
Highlight:
Wheat prices surged to a three-year high with the Ukraine stating that it will limit exports of milling wheat after a drought wrecked European crops. The world’s fifth-largest wheat exporter plans to sign a memorandum with traders to set limits for grain exports for the 2018-19 season, according to a statement from the Agriculture Ministry. Prices have been climbing in Paris and the US. “Securing the domestic market and the stability of prices for key food are an absolute priority”, the ministry said. Ukraine has traditionally enforced its wheat export limits informally, pressuring grain traders to ship certain volumes, rather than formally issuing a legal document. Extreme heat and dryness look to place European Union output at its second lowest in a 10-years, while production for Russia, the leading shipper, will fall for the first time in 6-years. Dry weather is also threatening crops in Australia who is another key supplier. Ukraine’s move sent global grain prices sharply higher. “We have seen this from Ukraine before,” said Matt Ammermann, a commodity risk manager at INTL FCStone Inc. “The market may panic, fearing the same from Russia.”
