Trouble on the horizon: Farmland values drop, debt increases

The value of farmland across the country continues to decline while credit remains tight for producers and net incomes fall. Low commodity prices, falling incomes, dropping land values and rising demand for credit are weighing down the nation’s agricultural producers, but Johansson told Agri-Pulse he will also be stressing to lawmakers that the farm economy is still strong when considered in a historical perspective. Conditions are nowhere near those that created the disaster of the 1980s, but many farmers are hurting, National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson told Agri-Pulse in an interview. Johnson said that’s the main message that NFU is stressing to lawmakers, but House Agriculture Chairman Mike Conaway said Tuesday he is well aware of the situation.