ERS

On Tuesday, ERS reported the ongoing Western drought is the most extreme drought in the region since 2000.  As of Monday, September 19th, the U.S. Drought Monitor classified more than 18% of land in the Western States as experiencing extreme or exceptional drought.  In July...

According to data released by ERS earlier this week, food insecurity varies greatly across the nation.  ERS said there are a list of reasons for the difference, including household-level characteristics, State-level characteristics, and State-level policies.  The est...

Earlier this week, Economic Research Service reported organic trade reached $3.4 billion in 2021.  Since 2011, there has been an uptick in the total value of imported organic products, partially because more products are being tracked and partially because more high-value organic products, such as blueberries and squash, are being imported into the United States.  The Uni...

Last week, ERS released its September 2022 Farm Income Forecast.  American Farm Bureau Federation Economist Bernt Nelson said USDA revised farm income to be higher with net farm income up by $7.3 billion, a 5.2% year-over-year increase.  While e...

ERS released data that week that shows in 2021, 89.8% of U.S. households were food secure throughout the entire year.  Food secure means they had access to food at all times for all household members during the year.  The remaining 10.2% of households we...

ERS forecasts inflation-adjusted U.S. net cash farm income to increase by $13.5 billion year-over-year or 8.7%.  Net cash farm income is gross cash income minus cash expenses and will reach $168.5 billion in 2022, the highest level since 2012.  In comp...

According to ERS, the interest expense ratio of farms  in 2020 was 0.04, remaining in line with the long-term trend and initial forecasts, despite the pandemic.  The COVID-19 pandemic reduced demand for agricultural commodities.  The interest...

Between 2015-2019, households in rural persistently poor counties were the least likely to have home internet.  According to ERS more than three in ten households lack internet access at home.  In comparison, only two in ten households in rural counties that were not persistently poor had no internet access at home.  A similar pa...

New data from ERS shows that U.S. adults ages 20 and older reported a 3% higher prevalence of obesity during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The study analyzed data from the CDC from March 13, 2020, to March 18, 2021, compared to a pre-pandemic baseline period of January 1, 2019, to March 12, 2020. ...

U.S. beef producers face higher input costs this year, predicted up 7% when compared to 2021.  ERS reported earlier this week the farmer’s share of the retail value of beef also increased year over year, but rising input costs, especially for cattle feed, may limit farmers’ ability to benefit from higher cattle prices.   Feed ex...