budget

With the wintry weather locking many of us in our homes or farms, now is the perfect time according to one financial expert to assess our financial status.   Rutgers University Extension Financial Expert Barbara O’Neill warns, “Don’t overwhelm yourself of course, but just pick off some things you think you can accomplish in the next year.”   But before you se...

In 2016, many farmers were able to break even only because they had such large yields, record yields in some cases.   USDA Chief Economist Rob Johannson says that will likely be the case for 2017 as well, and it’s hard to keep relying on that.   “...

U.S. agriculture's financial situation in 2017 looked about the same as 2016, putting more farmers on a financial tightrope.  USDA's Gary Crawford files this report.  

With Thanksgiving days away, the USDA's Gary Crawford has several tips to help prevent from falling in to Holiday debt.       If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com...

The Trump administration offered support this week to the 2018 spending package the House is set to consider that includes the ag spending bill.  The measure includes funding for the USDA, the EPA, and other federal agencies.   In a statement, the White House says that if the bill was “presented to the president in its current form, his advisers would recommend that he sign the bill into law.”  Po

It may not be front and center in agriculture like the farm bill discussion is, but farmers have a lot to worry about as Congress debates the future of health care.  Politico’s Morning Ag Report said farmers have been struggling for some time with low commodity prices and a sharp drop in farm income.  In turn,...

It looks like lawmakers will have $130 billion less to write the upcoming farm bill.  The Congressional Budget Office made that announcement when it published its 10-year baseline projections.  The C.B.O. predicts that both farm and nutrition programs would cost roughly $822 billion over the next ten years.   ...

At the Montana Ag Summit, Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee Pat Roberts said he had a clear thought when he first saw the proposed budget of President Trump for 2018.   “The proposal came over the transom to the ag committee and my staff was there and I asked what did they do to crop insurance. They said...

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue will give testimony to the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Tuesday.  The subcommittee will hold a hearing on President Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2018.  Perdue, Michel Young, the Department of Agriculture budget officer who is also acting deputy secretary, and Robb Johansson, USDA's chief economist, are scheduled to testify.   The bu..

The USDA are looking to “right-size” the various agencies under its purview according to Secretary Sonny Perdue.   “Certainly with the 5,000 reduction that the 2018 proposed budget calls for, we hope to identify through vacancies and maybe retirements if people want to move on out and to do that without harming individuals.”   Perdue said ...