Agriculture

90 percent of the total value of U.S. agricultural production; thus, the biggest effects of the TCJA on farmers are from changes to the Federal individual income tax code. We estimate that had the TCJA been in effect in 2016, family farm households would have faced an average effective tax rate of 13 .9 percent that year versus 17 .2 percent after factoring in several tax credits (Child Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit, and Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit) but excluding self-employment taxes. [node:read-more:link]

airy farmers continue to face longstanding challenges that are squeezing many out of business. But this year, dairy provisions in the new Farm Bill promise a better safety net. Second, with more farmers having been forced out of business, milk production is expected to decline, boosting prices for those who remain. As a result, policymakers in Washington and Madison should avoid knee-jerk reactions to the farmers’ dilemma. Rather, they should focus on solutions to the long-term economics of dairying.Dairy farmers are important to Wisconsin’s economy and its identity. [node:read-more:link]

Flooding and gloomy price prospects for corn and soybeans are diminishing optimism in the Corn Belt as spring planting nears.  Recent news articles continue to discuss the ongoing negative impacts of Midwestern floods on an already battered farm economy.  Meanwhile, corn and soybean prices fell on Friday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture released data relating to prospective planting intentions and grain stocks. [node:read-more:link]

Spring should be a time of promise, but the Mulder Dairy is clouded by doom. “Pretty depressing topic to talk about so I don't really bring it up a whole lot,” Kelsey Mulder said as he milked his father’s herd of 170 Holstein cows.Mulder is counting the days until the United States of America – the only country he's ever known - forces him to leave.Eighteen years ago, Kor Mulder and his former wife brought their two sons - ages two and three - from their native Holland to the open spaces of western Minnesota to start a dairy farm.Back home, land was scarce - while regulations were many. [node:read-more:link]

At least 1 million acres (405,000 hectares) of U.S. farmland were flooded after the “bomb cyclone” storm left wide swaths of nine major grain producing states under water this month. [node:read-more:link]

From Marin Bozic’s perspective, there are three ways to fix the dairy industry: Americans need to consume more cheese and milk, the county’s exports of milk need to grow, or, frankly, dairy farmers need to milk  fewer cows.Bozic, an assistant professor of applied economics who studies dairy foods marketing and economics at the University of Minnesota, said dairies have been economically upside down for the past five years, and there are plenty of macro-level reasons why.For starters, he said, “In the United States, productivity per cow is growing faster than population size."Each year, dair [node:read-more:link]

As floodwaters recede in the first areas hit by flooding in the Midwest, residents are eager to start cleanup. For farmers, the damage comes when livestock is vulnerable and the ag market is soft. The damage to local infrastructure and agricultural operations is enormous. “It has hit our government infrastructure hard. Dams, roads, levees, bridges have been impacted. Property damage, livestock losses, it’s pretty staggering. The Spencer Dam collapsed. [node:read-more:link]

The widespread, severe flooding in the Midwest over the last month has exposed the vulnerabilities in a levee system that is now so full of holes that many here ruefully describe it as “Swiss cheese.” With dozens of costly breaks across Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and nearby states, the surging waters have left large areas without even cursory flood protection.“Breaches everywhere: multiple, multiple breaches,” said Tom Bullock, the top elected official in Holt County, Mo., where crews were rushing last week to patch a leaking levee that, if it failed completely, would flood the small town of [node:read-more:link]

Suicide rates are soaring among the last of the independent Wisconsin dairy farmers getting squeezed out by consolidation and a USDA program that isn’t helping. Net farm income has dropped in half in the Midwest over the decade. Iowa corn and soy farmers have lost money five years in a row. Loan delinquencies are at their highest levels since the Farm Debt Crisis of the mid-1980s.“Farmers and bankers are having difficult conversations,” said Aaron Heley Lehman, president of the Iowa Farmers Union, himself a crop and livestock farmer from central Iowa. [node:read-more:link]

As part of her presidential platform, Elizabeth Warren is not just taking on big agriculture corporations like Bayer AG and Tyson Foods Inc. She’s also going after checkoff programs, which do marketing campaigns for commodities.Slogans like “Got Milk?”, “Beef: It’s What’s For Dinner,” and “Pork: The Other White Meat” are what’s at stake. By law, growers pay a portion of their sales into checkoffs, which then promote the commodities. But that process is rigged against family farmers, the Democratic presidential candidate wrote in a Medium posting Wednesday that detailed her plans for U.S. [node:read-more:link]