ERS

USDA layoffs and office consolidations are raising bipartisan concern in Congress.  Staffing levels could be pared by nearly 10% starting by early May, with the remaining staff relocated to three hubs around the country.  That’s according to briefed USDA officials, who are cited in a report by Government Executive, a government business news daily.   The layoffs and ...

ERS is forecasting inflation-adjusted U.S. net cash farm income, better known as gross cash income minus cash expenses, to increase by $30.6 billion from 2024 to $193.7 billion in 2025.  U.S. net farm income, a broader measure of farm sector profitability, is forecast to increase by $37.7 billion...

The USDA released new farm income forecast numbers, and while they're not drastically different from previous reports this year, they seem to take on more meaning the closer we get to the end of the calendar year.  Carrie Litkowski, senior economist with USDA Economic Research Service, said farm income is on the decline.  ...

In a typical year, American farmers can expect to pay more than the year before for production expenses.  But the USDA's new farm income forecast is a bit of a surprise.  A forecast for lower production expenses.   ERS’ Spiro Stefano said prices that farmers are getting for many of their crops continue to fall.  The USDA is projecting a 12%...

USDA's New farm income forecast for this year has U.S. farmers making a lot less money than last year.   “Net cash farm income for 2024 is forecast at $154 billion, which is about a 7.2% drop from 2023," said Spiro Stefano  who runs USDA's Economic Research Service.  He noted that crop...

USDA's annual look at household food security in our nation reveals that in 2023, food insecurity among American households increased from 12.8% to 13.5%.   “Very low food security, a more severe form of food insecurity, was unchanged," noted economic researcher Matthew Rabbit.   R...

U.S. dairy farms vary widely in size, from fewer than 50 dairy cows to having 2,000 or more.  While many factors can influence a dairy farm’s production cost per unit of milk, such as technology use, management, and input prices paid, farm size can also affect costs.   The Ec...

Formal educational attainment in rural America has grown, but still lags behind urban communities.  USDA’s Economic Research Service data shows the share of adults ages 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or higher increased in rural areas from 15% to 21%.  In the same time sp...

Economic Research Service publishes its price forecasts in the monthly Food Price Outlook report.  The FPO forecasts food-at-home prices will increase by 8.6% in 2023, with a prediction interval of 5.6%-11%.  Forecasts now include a midpoint and a prediction interval to represent the expected price change and range of likely prices. The pred...

New data from USDA’s Economic Research Service shows that between fiscal years 2018 and 2022, Mexico accounted for nearly 14% of all U.S. agricultural exports.  With a total value of $28 billion, Mexico is projected to be the United States’ second largest destination for U.S. agricultural expor...