In the grinder: Farm economy continues to suffer

It comes as no surprise to any farmer — the overall farm economy health in the United States isn’t strong. John Newton, director ofr market intelligence at American Farm Bureau Federation, discussed economic health at the Agriculture Policy Outlook.“Net farm income has declined over 50 percent since 2013,” he said. “The farm economy is not surging. The farm contribution to U.S. GDP is at the lowest level we’ve seen. As Secretary Perdue says, ‘we’ve got a perfect storm on our hands.’”