The USDA is predicting net farm income to be $ 116 billion this year, which is down 25.5 percent from 20-23.
An economist with the department shares the many factors contributing to the drop.
“Cash receipts both for crops and animal and animal products are forecast to decline in 2024. Government payments that go to farm operations are expected to decline, as well and production expenses are forecast to increase, which would pull down net income,” said Carrie Litkowski.
The USDA expects production expenses to rise by almost 4 percent, while cash receipts will drop by four. Litkowski says that the decline is due to lower commodity prices.
The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture says this first farm income forecast of the year shows income will return to prior levels after three of the highest consecutive years on record. He says, “During this period of record farm income, u-s farmers rose to the occasion by producing strong harvests and increasing commodity stocks while the economy recovered more quickly and more robustly than that of the global economy from COVID-19. As a result, while we have rebuilt the global supply, we are seeing a decreased demand for commodities, and commodity prices are coming down. At the same time, while some production costs have come down, others, including labor, pesticides, and livestock purchases, have increased.”
