The Census of Agriculture provides a wealth of data on the state of the industry. Economists with NASS recently took a look at farm topology, peeling back the layers of each operation.
“The farm topology sort of slices this up by looking at what’s called the gross cash farm income. Under value production, that farm produces many, many dollars in value production. But the part that comes back to the farmer is just the fee he receives. Cash farm income and the farm topology just count the part that the farmer gets for his fee. Value production counts everything that came off the farm,” said Joseph Parsons.
Economists uncovered that producers on small farms tend to be new to the profession and have served in the military, and they also likely rely on off-farm work to get by. They also discovered that farming has become a retirement plan, with many new small farmers over the age of 65.
The application deadline is March 8, 2026. The 1890 National Scholars Program aims to encourage students at 1890 land-grant universities to pursue careers in food, agriculture, and natural resource sciences.
January 16, 2026 10:42 AM
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Expanded school access to whole milk provides modest but reliable demand support for U.S. dairy producers.
January 15, 2026 10:14 AM
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Freight volatility increasingly determines export margins, making logistics costs as important as price in marketing decisions.
January 14, 2026 06:00 AM
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Secretary Rollins also met with specialty crop producers at a local strawberry farm to discuss workforce needs and the Trump Administration’s recent wins related to significantly cutting the cost of H-2A labor for California farmers.
January 13, 2026 03:25 PM
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USDA flash corn sales, Cattle on Feed and Inventory reports, and beef packer antitrust concerns dominate January agricultural market news.
January 13, 2026 01:53 PM
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U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said permanent access to the higher ethanol blend would provide farmers with much-needed certainty while supporting domestic crop demand.
January 13, 2026 01:31 PM
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